Bonfire hate crime in North must stop

After seeing the practice of burning nationalist/republican election posters, tricolour flags and Blessed Virgin Mary statues on bonfires continue during this year's Eleventh Night celebrations in Northern Ireland, I explain why this should be clamped down by local politicians and what can be done about it. 

Happily, this year's Eleventh Night and Twelfth July celebrations passed off without serious disturbance. Apart from several houses in the Shankill road area of west Belfast being damaged by a nearby bonfire and a minor stand-off at Ardoyne in the evening between loyalist and republican youths, there was no serious civil disorder as in previous years.

However, an offensive and ugly aspect of the annual Eleventh Night and Twelfth July celebrations persisted this year as election posters of nationalist/republican politicians, tricolour flags, images of the 1981 hunger strikers and Blessed Virgin Mary statues were burned on bonfires throughout Northern Ireland. It is worth noting that it was not just SDLP and Sinn Féin politicians who had their posters incinerated, but also Cannabis Is Safer Than Alcohol (CISTA) political representatives. These latter people suffered this fate exclusively because of their Catholic-sounding surnames.   

An image posted by Junior Minister, Megan Fearon MLA, showing her election poster and others belonging to SDLP politicians (Dolores Kelly, Karen McKevitt and Justin McNulty MLA) and to CISTA candidates (Emmet Crossan and Martin Kelly) displayed on a bonfire prior to being lit.

Danny Kinahan, south Antrim's Ulster Unionist MP, was pictured helping to present a cheque to a charity in front of an unlit bonfire topped with the tricolour flag and, in response to the outcry that followed, labelled the practice as a part of 'Protestant culture.' Kinahan's defence of this practice is unsettling because it conceals sectarianism and hate under the labels of 'culture' and 'tradition' and worrying because it shows that it is accepted by an individual who is widely considered to personify moderate unionism in Northern Ireland. 

Let us be honest about what this activity is. It is NOT culture. It is wanton sectarianism and a form of hate crime. Pure and simple. The same principle applies to the burning of unionist/loyalist flags on bonfires lit by republican communities to commemorate internment every August. It is indefensible and must be stopped. 

I have no problem with bonfires as a form of commemoration. They are an example of tradition. For example, the English and French use them to celebrate Guy Fawkes Night and Bastille Day, respectively. However, the practice of the unionist/loyalist community burning symbols cherished by the nationalist/republican community in Northern Ireland and vice versa is not tradition. It is sectarian, offensive and constitutes hate crime.   

I know that me publishing a blog post on this will not stop unionists/loyalists or nationalists/republicans committing this act in July 2017 and August 2016, respectively. However, it demonstrates that young Irish people are prepared to speak out about this practice and to contribute to the wider debate. 

For me, our political representatives together - local councillors, MLAs, MPs and MEPs - in both the unionist/loyalist and nationalist/republican communities must take a united stand, send out messages calling for this practice to immediately cease and state that a zero tolerance stance will be adopted by all political parties. Further, our MLAs should formulate legislation immediately in order to make this act illegal and make the PSNI able to enforce the legislation effectively and efficiently. This issue should also be a priority of the new NI Secretary of State, James Brokenshire, MP. 

Finally, I am convinced that if steps like these are undertaken then this activity will eventually be eliminated although it will require the leadership and support of local politicians, community leaders and organisations like the Orange Order. I am not naive. I know how difficult this will be to achieve but those with the popular support of both communities must continue to work together in order to negate the elements in our society that seek to provoke sectarian conflict and cause disharmony.