Tricolours, election posters and sectarian slogans on display as bonfires lit across the north

Hundreds of bonfires have been lit across the north as part of 11th Night celebrations, following criticism over some pyres featuring Irish tricolors, nationalist election posters and sectarian slogans.

The bonfires take place the night before the Twelfth of July marches, when thousands of Orange Order members join bands in hundreds of parades throughout the north.

The Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service said it dealt with more than 100 emergency 999 calls since 6pm on Thursday evening.

Brian Stanfield, Assistant Chief Fire and Rescue Officer said: “It has been a relatively quiet 11th night.

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“Between 6pm and 2am, we received 109 emergency 999 calls.

“This resulted in our firefighters attending 78 operational incidents, 37 of which were bonfire related.

“During this period, the number of emergency calls received was down 25% when compared to 2023.

“Peak activity was between 10pm and 1am and normal emergency response across Northern Ireland was maintained.”

A number of bonfires were criticised for the use of materials including rubber tyres, while there has also been condemnation of election posters and flags placed on some pyres.

A large tricolour was placed on a pyre at Inverary Playing Fields in Belfast on Thursday.

In Tigers Bay, in the north of the city, a tricolour appeared on Thursday alongside an election poster featuring Sinn Féin MP John Finucane.

A tricolour was displayed on Thursday on the bonfire at Pitt Park, in the Newtownards Road area of east Belfast.

Meanwhile, Palestinian flags were also placed on top of bonfires in south Belfast, at Sandy Row and the Village area.

The Village area bonfire had also been condemned earlier on Thursday over “blatant sectarianism” as it featured a sign with the initials ‘A.T.A.T’, understood to stand for ‘All Taigs are Targets’.

It was reported on Thursday that a bonfire in the Rathcoole area featured a board with the name of SDLP leader Colum Eastwood, alongside a crosshairs symbol and the words ‘your (sic) next’.

The display was condemned by the Foyle MP’s party colleague, East Derry MLA Cara Hunter.

“Clearly these people don’t know Colum, and he won’t be deterred by this backwards sectarian hatred,” she wrote in a social media post.

Other bonfires to feature election posters included one in the Donegall Pass area of Belfast, which also has an Ireland’s Future banner added to the pyre, and one in the city’s Highfield area, which featured a poster of First Minister Michelle O’Neill.

Meanwhile, in Larne, the structure claimed to be the world’s biggest bonfire was lit just before midnight.

The bonfire at Craigyhill was measured at around 205ft, which its builders say is the tallest ever built on record.

In a statement posted to social media, the builders said they were submitting “documents and scans” to be considered by the Guinness World Records team.