Derry bonfires lit after appeals for calm

Bonfires were lit in some nationalist areas on Thursday evening

Bonfires which displayed union flags and Israel flags have been lit in some nationalist areas of Londonderry.

Earlier, the Bishop of Derry made an appeal for calm ahead of the events “so that we can be proud of who we are, rather than tomorrow morning being embarrassed about who we are”.

The owner of the bonfire site in the Bogside's Meenan Square previously said it could not find a contractor willing to clear the site.

DUP MLA Gary Middleton criticised the burning of flags, adding "it shouldn't be tolerated in any normal society".

The union flag, flag of Israel and a number of other items have been placed on the Bogside bonfire

Previous bonfires in Meenan Square have attracted some criticism in recent years.

The police investigated shots being fired near the site in 2022 and also investigated reports of political material - including flags and poppy wreaths - being placed on the bonfire as potential hate crimes.

Posters placed on the bonfire in 2021 referenced former Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) Chief Constable Simon Byrne and one referred to the murder of Catholic police officer Ronan Kerr.

Mr Kerr was killed when dissident republicans fitted a booby-trapped bomb to his car in Omagh, County Tyrone, in 2011.

Bishop Donal McKeown wants the city to be proud rather than embarrassed on Friday morning

Speaking to BBC Radio Foyle’s North West Today, Bishop McKeown said: “I hope we have calm, this is a very dignified city, it has been through terrible decades, centuries in the past.

“It has found ways of coming to terms with those and we have got to find ways of recognising the pain of the present and the past, and actually building a future rather than building something that destroys people."

On Wednesday, Apex Housing Association, which owns the land in Meenan Square where people have forced entry to build the bonfire, said it had "not authorised the current activity".

Apex said it recognised "the distress and potential danger that these activities pose to local residents and visitors in the area".

It also said no contractors were willing to help due to "health and safety concerns".

On Thursday morning, a number of banners, flags and placards were placed on the Bogside fire including union flags, a King Charles coronation flag and the flag of Israel.

The names of US president Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are written on that flag next to a swastika and crosshair.

Owners of the site, where the bonfire has been constructed over recent days, say they have "not authorised the current activity" in Meenan Square

Speaking earlier on Thursday, Bishop McKeown said he was willing to sit down and speak with those behind the bonfires to find “a better way forward”.

He had also urged anyone considering placing effigies or contentious items on Thursday’s bonfires to reconsider.

Why are bonfires being lit?

Bonfires on 15 August are traditional in some nationalist parts of Northern Ireland to mark the Catholic Feast of the Assumption.

Some bonfires are also lit in August to commemorate the introduction of internment without trial of republican suspects during the Troubles, which was introduced by the UK Government in 1971.

Apex Housing says "all options to remove materials from the site have been explored"

Gary Donnelly, an independent councillor in the city, said bonfires divided opinion.

There were "different positions" within the community and people were divided, he told BBC News NI.

“All those opinions need to be taken on board," he continued.

"My own opinion is that bonfires can be very toxic not only environmentally but socially."

He said the “eleventh hour” was too late to try to “impose a position on a community” and that dialogue was the best way to find a resolution in the future.

A number of community festivals in Belfast have been staged as alternatives to bonfires.

There are a number of family-friendly events taking place in Derry on Thursday, including events as part of the Bogside Féile.