Bonfires don’t play the same role in Republicanism that they do in the Loyalist and Unionist celebrations around the Twelfth. An earlier tradition of lighting bonfires to celebrate the Catholic feast of the Assumption became the basis of anti-internment pyres used to mark the introduction of internment but they were never really embraced by the wider nationalist community. Anti-social behaviour at many of the events over the years alienated local communities, and they lacked support from mainstream nationalist and Republican ... Read more...
Bonfires don’t play the same role in Republicanism that they do in the Loyalist and Unionist celebrations around the Twelfth. An earlier tradition of lighting bonfires to celebrate the Catholic feast of the Assumption became the basis of anti-internment pyres used to mark the introduction of internment but they were never really embraced by the wider nationalist community. Anti-social behaviour at many of the events over the years alienated local communities, and they lacked support from mainstream nationalist and Republican politicians. The recently concluded Féile an Phobail was partly created to provide an alternative to bonfires with the organisers of the Féile last night celebrating that ‘there were no bonfires in Belfast’ that night….
“The destruction that formerly happened in communities on 8th August didn’t happen yet again. Instead 12,000 young people danced the night away in the Falls Park at Féile Dance Night and they were superb! That is the future!”
While the tradition has lost ground in nationalist areas, there are some determined to keep some aspects of it going. Whilst preserving traditions is usually a laudable goal, in this case the remaining bonfires seem to be emblematic of the worst elements of the practice. We are still only just coming out of the controversy over the Moygashel and South Belfast bonfires only to find that some Republicans seem determined to match the worst excesses of what was seen over the twelfth.
One bonfire in Derry has begun with a placard on it with the name of PSNI officer John Caldwell, who narrowly escaped assassination and in earlier years these bonfires have been bedecked in Union Jacks and other items of meaning to Unionism and Loyalism (the most egregious example was the theft of poppy wreaths from the city’s cenotaph which were placed on a bonfire in 2023). By the time the bonfire is completed at the weekend, chances are it will be similarly decorated again.
Sinn Féin has criticised these bonfires and called for regulation over the issue with MLA Cara Ferguson saying
“In the last month we have seen controversial bonfires threatening critical infrastructure as well as the health and safety of the public…In Derry, these illegal anti-community bonfires threaten the local communities and infrastructure. Sinn Féin has called on statutory agencies to step up to either mitigate against these bonfires or remove them entirely. Action is needed to end illegality, sectarianism and hate crimes these dangerous bonfires fuel. Regulation is needed and political representatives must step up and speak out against these illegal displays.”
And at the end of July SDLP MLA Mark Durkan emphasised the SDLP’s opposition to bonfires in general stating that “we would prefer there to be no bonfires taking place in our city.”
The Bonfire builders are having none of it, saying in a Facebook post quoted on Derry Now that
“The Bogside bonfire is not a threat — it’s a message. It tells a truth that politicians don’t want to hear: that this community is fed up with being policed, lectured, and looked down on by those who claim to represent us. The fire is not about division, it’s about defiance. It’s about the right of working-class people, especially young people, to take space, to be seen, and to be heard.”
Though it does beg the question of why some in the working class express a seething resentment at ‘being looked down upon’ whilst engaging in behaviour that reinforces the stereotypes surrounding them. Plenty of Loyalist bonfires pass without incident or controversy, showing it is possible to keep the tradition without courting trouble after all. If a bonfire must be held, why not copy those examples rather than the worst? Hopefully the bonfire passes without major incident at the weekend, though we begin the counting days till it comes around again as soon as its ashes grow cold.
