BONFIRE builders who removed tyres from two sites in East Belfast on Monday have now said there is no need for Belfast City Council staff to take action.
At a special meeting yesterday, Belfast City Council announced they would “remove materials” from both sites due to environmental concerns. Shortly after the announcement, those that built a bonfire at Ashdale Street near Connswater Shopping Centre moved it voluntarily.
The material was moved to St George’s Playing Field, close to the Oval football ground. Their action came after contractors, acting on behalf of the Council, removed 1,800 tyres from a site in South Belfast on Sunday.
DUP group leader on Belfast City Council, George Dorrian, said his party will be “continuing to talk with the bonfire groups and anyone who is involved in the agencies to try and get these tyres removed from all the sites, and we can have a peaceful Eleventh Night.”
He added: “We don’t support the removal of bonfires wholsesale, we want to see safe bonfires, we want to see bonfires without tyres, we want to see bonfires which don’t threaten or intimidate communities, that’s what we want to see and that’s what we’ll be getting. The various parties have their positions to take what we want to do is make sure these bonfires are safe and people can come out and enjoy themselves.”
Alliance Party Councillor Emmet McDonough-Brown said the Council had a responsibility to act when bonfires were built on its land.
“When people won’t listen and won’t engage, then sadly we’re left with no alternative but to intervene in this way,” he said. “It’s something we would rather we didn’t have to do frankly because of the cost and the disruption but really there was no alternative at this stage.”
