After the IRA ceasefire of 1994 the then leader of unionism, James Molyneaux described this as one of the most “destabilising events since partition”. I was surprised and disappointed by the statement but in a sense, he was right – loyalist unease at the new confidence within nationalism and republicanism began to manifest itself in arguments over parades during the following years. I was a young school teacher during the years 1995-1998, when riots over parades regularly marred our summers ... Read more...
After the IRA ceasefire of 1994 the then leader of unionism, James Molyneaux described this as one of the most “destabilising events since partition”. I was surprised and disappointed by the statement but in a sense, he was right – loyalist unease at the new confidence within nationalism and republicanism began to manifest itself in arguments over parades during the following years.
I was a young school teacher during the years 1995-1998, when riots over parades regularly marred our summers and sadly there were many murders. Each September I would be appalled to hear teenage pupils talk of their excitement at participating in the protests over the summer. Because of this I spoke many times on Radio Ulster (anonymously because I was a school teacher) against the idea of forcing parades through areas where they were unwelcome. When the suggestion of a Parades Commission was floated, many unionists strongly opposed the idea, but I was pleased to take the opportunity to speak in favour of it on the BBC Any Answers program in 1997.
The Parades Commission has been an incredible success and tensions over parades have steadily decreased.
Shifting Sands
I fear we are again at time of unease; we unionists can feel the sand shifting beneath our feet; for the first time ever, we have a nationalist First Minister in Michelle O’Neil and nationalists are pushing the idea of a Border Poll.
We must not make the same mistake we made in the 1980s and resort to street politics. The riots in Ballymena last month were a bad omen and some of the current discussions over inappropriately sited bonfires is reminiscent of the battles over the right to display our culture by marching down the Garvaghy Road.
Let’s be honest. For some of us, the positioning of bonfires is like the positioning of flags – it is about expressing control of an area, it is an expression of power and sadly the Loyalist paramilitaries are often still lurking in the background.
Luckily there are fewer deaths linked to bonfires, but the disruption, mess and cleanup costs are incurred by ordinary people and there seems to no system of enforceable to reduce risks and damage. Incredibly there persists a perception among unionist politicians that if you have sufficient young men prepared to build a bonfire anywhere, the authorities cannot overrule them.
Recent conversations on Radio Ulster demonstrate that councillors are not the right people to deal with this issue. Unionist councillors will not openly call for a bonfire to be moved, even if that bonfire site contaminated by cancer causing asbestos and endangers an electricity substation which supplies two major hospitals in Belfast. We need an alternative and that is a Bonfire Commission that impartially rules on what is safe and permissible and what is not.
A public discussion is needed on the criteria but I suggest the following are reasonable:
Bonfire Commission Criteria
- Bonfire Organiser’s Name and details
- Precise location of proposed bonfire – address and map showing site
- Contact details of the owner of the site
- Confirmation that the owner has given permission
- Details of the surface material on which the bonfire will be built
- Distance in metres of the bonfire from any nearby buildings or infrastructure
- Proposed maximum height of bonfire (bonfires higher than 3 metres will require public liability insurance)
- Proposed material of construction and safety measures during construction
- Expected date the bonfire will begin to be built
- Expected date and time of lighting of bonfire
- Precautions to protect the crowd – barriers will be required for all bonfires above 3 metres and the public should be at a distance equal to or greater than the height of the bonfire.
Have I missed anything? What additional criteria would you require?
- I know that the burning of political posters and flags is an issue – is this a question for a Bonfire Commission to consider?
- Should we aim for more smaller bonfires, or fewer bonfires but well-regulated massive ones?
