A bonfire with a display of refugees in a boat was lit and is being treated as a hate incident.
The model which shows a small boat with several figures inside has received widespread condemnation after it was set alight in Moygashel, Northern Ireland, last night.
Under the boat, a sign said ‘stop the boats’, while another placard said: ‘veterans before refugees’.
Among those to hit out at it was Church of Ireland Archbishop John McDowell who said it was ‘racist, threatening and offensive.’
He added: ‘It certainly has nothing whatsoever to do with Christianity or with Protestant culture and is in fact inhuman and deeply sub-Christian.
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‘I hope that the many people from other countries, who live in that area, and who contribute so much to the economy and to the diversity of Dungannon, can be reassured that it does not in any way represent the feeling of the vast majority of their neighbours.’
Other critics include Sinn Fein’s Assembly member Colm Gildernew who branded it ‘vile’ and ‘deplorable’.
A number of reports to police were made about the bonfire and the material on it and they are investigating it as a hate incident.
The PSNI statement added: ‘Police are here to help those who are or who feel vulnerable, to keep people safe.
‘We do this by working with local communities, partners, elected representatives and other stakeholders to deliver local solutions to local problems, building confidence in policing and supporting a safe environment for people to live, work, visit and invest in Northern Ireland, but we can only do so within the legislative framework that exists.’
Moygashel Bonfire Committee said the bonfire ‘topper’ should not be seen as ‘racist, threatening or offensive’ and it is ‘expressing our disgust at the ongoing crisis that is illegal immigration’.
Bonfires like these are lit annually each year in some unionist areas across Northern Ireland in July to usher in the Twelfth of July, the main date in the parading season.
The majority are lit on the eleventh night and the twelfth night commemorates the Battle of the Boyne in 1690 when the Protestant King William III defeated Catholic King James II.
The Moygashel bonfire has been known for its controversial displays in the past.
A mock police car was burnt on top of the bonfire last year and in 2023, a boat designed to represent the post-Brexit Irish Sea economic border was torched.
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