A 56-year-old man has been arrested in connection with a loyalist bonfire in Moygashel, County Tyrone, that features an effigy of a mosque. The display, which is to be burned on Friday night as part of wider loyalist commemorations, has been widely condemned as an incitement to hatred.
The effigy sits atop a tower of pallets, with placards beneath reading “secure our borders” and “end the threat of radical Islam”. Amnesty International and politicians have urged police to intervene.
Amnesty condemns ‘vile’ display
Patrick Corrigan, Amnesty International’s Northern Ireland director, said: “This vile display is a blatant attempt to stir up anti-Muslim hatred and intimidate local families. The police must investigate this as a potential crime, identify and hold to account those responsible, and ensure this material is swiftly removed before it can be used to incite further hatred and violence.”
Police confirmed on Thursday that a 56-year-old man had been arrested on suspicion of displaying threatening, abusive or insulting material intended to stir up hatred. He remains in custody.
Context of recent race riots
The controversy comes four weeks after a knife attack, for which a Sudanese man has been charged, triggered race riots in Belfast and other towns. The Moygashel Bonfire Association defended its display as a “political protest” against “uncontrolled illegal mass immigration” and a “failure to deport” foreign criminals.
In a statement on Facebook, the association said: “Our display may well shock, offend or outrage others, but nonetheless it is an exercise in our rights under article 10 of the ECHR,” referring to the European Convention on Human Rights. It added that the display did not target any individual, stating: “We make that very clear. Our opposition is not to people, but rather to ideology and government policy.”
Previous controversial bonfires
Last year, the same association burned an effigy of a dozen dark-skinned, lifesize mannequins with lifejackets seated in a boat. The Moygashel pyre is one of an estimated 300 bonfires to be lit across Northern Ireland this weekend, marking the annual celebration of King William III’s victory at the Battle of the Boyne in 1690.
Some bonfires burn Irish tricolours and effigies of Irish nationalists, but in recent years anti-immigrant themes have become more common. Last month, police removed a “Muslims not welcome” banner from a children’s playground in Moygashel, and similar banners have appeared at nearby sites.
Political condemnation
Politicians have urged the police to remove the bonfire effigy. Colm Gildernew, the Sinn Féin Stormont assembly member for Fermanagh and South Tyrone, called it a hate crime. “There is no place in our society for racism, and it is the responsibility of all political representatives and community leaders to stand against it.”
Eddie Roofe, an Alliance party councillor, said those responsible were trying to instil fear and spread hatred. “People should be free to live without fear of themselves or their families being targeted or subjected to discrimination.”
The nonprofit group Faith Matters said that to burn a replica mosque was “a chilling and dangerous message” to Muslim communities in Northern Ireland and beyond. In the Republic of Ireland, three men have admitted in court to involvement in a plot to set fire to a mosque in County Galway last year; they are to be sentenced in October.
