July 11, 2017The bonfire pyres, normally composed of wooden pallets and similar products, are a staple of annual Ulster Protestant celebrations.
But in recent years concern has grown over the management and safety of the large structures, and this year the council took the unprecedented step of seeking an injunction against further construction of pyres at four sites across the city.
The Belfast Telegraph reported at one site that has the injunction, Ravenscroft Avenue car park, fire officers had boarded up the rear windows of a nearby church to protect it from flames.
It also reported that local pastor, Lucas Parks, had said five families living in a nearby apartment block had moved out due to safety concerns.
The pastor said he didn’t want to score ‘political points’.
Parks said: “The fire service have told us they are going to be here on the Eleventh Night to spray water on our roof and on other nearby buildings like houses, apartments, an electrical sub-station, commercial businesses and a community centre.”
The local authority has a specific bonfire and cultural expression programme to ‘support positive, respectful expressions of culture that value diversity and encourage participation’.
The programme aims to provide training to work with communities to ‘encourage safe forms of cultural celebration’.
It said: “We will help communities where July bonfires occur to connect with the cultural significance of the occasion through the funding of small scale community festival events and activities. We will also fund activity that raises awareness of cultural heritage and what it can mean to different groups.
“The programme is part of our wider work in promoting Belfast as a welcoming, safe and inclusive city as outlined in the Belfast Agenda. We will also continue our collaborative work with a number of agencies on the issue of bonfires.
“We will continue to support groups who deliver activity that aims to address issues associated with August bonfires and to tackle some negative aspects and challenges that continue to be associated with some bonfires.”
