The PSNI has confirmed that it has taken the decision not to assist a request from Belfast City Council for the removal of material from a controversial south Belfast bonfire site.
Tensions have been smouldering in recent days over the bonfire. It sparked a row amid the presence of asbestos close-by and concerns it could disrupt power supply to both the Royal and City Hospitals.
A city council committee voted on Wednesday to send contractors to remove the towering pyre on Meridi Street off the Donegall Road. Earlier today, a car was parked across one entrance to the bonfire site. It is unclear if the move was intended to block access to the site.
READ MORE: Belfast bonfire latest as DUP launches bid to stop removal
On Wednesday night, the PSNI declared it a “major incident” as the force considered a request from the council to help contractors remove it.
In a statement on Thursday evening police said: "The Police Service of Northern Ireland has taken the decision not to assist a request from Belfast City Council for the removal of material from a south Belfast bonfire site.
"Following comprehensive engagement with all relevant stakeholders, an evidence based assessment, and taking into consideration all of the risks associated with the removal, we have determined that police should not assist the proposed actions of Belfast City Council.
"The consensus of the meeting was that the risk of the bonfire proceeding as planned was lower and more manageable than the intervention of contractors and the proposed methodology of dismantling the bonfire. The Police Service will continue to work with partners and communities to manage the remaining risks surrounding this bonfire."
“These celebrations and others that occur throughout the year are a valued part of Northern Ireland’s local history and culture, and I recognise the deep sense of identity these events represent for many people. They can and should be occasions where communities come together in a spirit of inclusiveness and pride, through local traditions.
“It is vital that in marking these events, we do so in a way that respects the backgrounds and cultures of everyone who share these neighbourhoods. Mutual respect is the foundation of strong, safe communities. There is no place for hate or intimidation—only space for celebration that welcomes and celebrates not divides.
“Our officers will be on the ground throughout the weekend, working in partnership with community leaders, event organisers, and local representatives to support lawful, peaceful, and family-friendly events. However where necessary, we will take firm and proportionate action to keep people safe.
“In the days following the weekend, we will bring key stakeholders together to debrief and review the events of recent days. This is part of our commitment to working with communities—learning, listening, and improving year on year.
“Our priority remains the safety and wellbeing of everyone. Let’s ensure that this weekend reflects the very best of our communities: proud, respectful, and united.”
by Flashy_Error_4447
30 comments
Let them all suffer the consequences of the asbestos and deny them health care, womp womp
Bunch of gurney cunts in this thread, across all posts, horrible senses of humour also, wishing asbestos poisoning on your neighbour is wild, grow up😅
Absolute wasters stealing a wage.
PSNI Chief Constable Jon Boutcher said officers will be on the ground in areas where bonfires are being lit this weekend “working in partnership with community leaders”…
*POSITIVE COMMUNITY INTERACTION*
PSNI: Don’t do that thing.
Unionists/Loyalists: Aye we will, so we will.
PSNI: OK, thanks for your cooperation.
Cops in NI are so transparently pandering to Loyalism, while they crack don’t on anything similar in Nationalist areas with an iron fist
Police are setting a dangerous precedent here if they don’t give next month’s bonfires a wide berth
‘All relevant stakeholders’….
The marority of NI can go and fuck themselves then?
Jon Boucher you need to grow a set.
jesus christ, the psni are so fucking bitch made.
Well there you go
Shameful! Police on the wrong side of history again in NI.
How far will the asbestos spread if it does get disturbed and spread by the fire?
I’m so fucking tired of this bullshit! It’s an environmental disaster waiting to happen but no let’s light the fkn thing and poison the whole of Belfast sure. Absolute stupidity! I guess some people are determined to expedite their journey to the grave. Not enough for the selfish bastards to send themselves to an early death – they have to take the rest of us with them! Absolute shower! And before anyone comes for me, I couldn’t care less about your religion, your culture, your hobbies, your job, whatever the hell you do. But if it has a potentially negative effect on myself and others you can sit on it and swivel!
LOL.
Risk assessments in Irish History:
25,000 rifles at Larne; too risky do nothing
UVF set up to defy Westminster democracy: too risky do nothing.
Mutiny in the Officer Corps at the Curragh; too risky do nothing.
Howth gun running; never mind the risk shoot civilians on Bachelors Walk.
Occupation of buildings in Dublin 1916; never mind risk bombard the city centre.
Imprisonment of leaders of 1916; never mind the risk execute the lot.
Attacks on RIC; never mind the risk send in Troops, Auxies, Black and Tans.
Four Courts occupied; never mind the risk of civil war in the 26 insist on action.
Anyone who thinks the UK will ever respect Irish people and apply its self styled “principles” equally is a gullible fool.
That’s you John Hume, John Bruton, Bertie Ahern, Micheal Martin and the shared island crowd.
Wild that a supposed functioning state is so brazen to point out this tbh – why dont they just come out and say what’s what.
Sadly, we’re stuck with this shit where equality is still a taboo word.
When people feel angry about economics, they lack the culpable thought of which they are holding the country back.
Another 30 years at least, and even then it’ll still be rife with this stench.
Mind in Ballymena and Coleraine the cops just kinda watched the loyalists let it all out and riot. Now this. They moan about “two-tier policing” it’s mad. Really one of the parties should withdraw from the policing board until they cop on.
Of course. This sub can say what they want but this is a no brainer for the police. It isn’t just the locals that would kick off if they took this fire down, it’s half the estates in Belfast.
The entire blame for this is on the councillors that engineered this by leaving it til the midnight hour. And I say engineered because there is no other possible explanation. They _want_ the trouble and they get it year after year through manipulation like this.
Mucks are gonna muck. Everybody knows that. The mucks that run the fire are beyond help. It’s the leadership of the council and tbh, political leadership in unionism, that we are missing.
That’s a very long winded way of saying they won’t do the job we pay them for. Useless fuckin hures.
Fuck the local community, fuck the bonfire builders, fuck the paramilitary threat. The bonfire has been identified as a threat to local infrastructure and the environment. Get it down ta fuck. You have riot gear and armored vehicles for dealing with *exactly* this type of thing.
Who would actually expect the RUC to spoil the decrepit backwards fucking idiots celebration of hate?
Why don’t nationalist councillors go over and take it down?
Fucking cowardly bastards. The PSNI is not fit for purpose, that bonfire is putting lives at risk.
My Da’s chemo treatments and radiotherapy have all been cancelled until next week at RVH due to the threat this bonfire is causing to their power supply.
It’s really not a treatment you can just stop and start.
Fuck these cowards and the selfish fucking cowards who built it.
I am just fucking sick of these hate-filled, knuckledragging cunts always holding the lives of hardworking, decent, honest people to ransom.
It’s got beyond a fucking joke.
Scumbags.
Sure if the local cops took it down where would they go on the 11th night to celebrate their kulture?
Any fucking wonder nationalists have fuck all respect or faith in this sectarian, backward police force that is The PSNI.
Tell me again how the PSNI are not in the pockets of the loyalists. Tell me again how they treat nationalists fairly. Tell me again how they’re not just the dirty RUC under another name.
Pathetic scum.
I am 100% sure loyalists get greater satisfaction by doing stuff to wind up taigs than they get enjoyment from the actual bonfire.
I don’t think any reasonable person thinks it’s ok to stand around with your kids breathing in toxic fumes from mattresses and sofas or building massive pyres so close to buildings that they endanger them. Reasonable people wouldn’t consider theft of pallets or leaving an almighty mess for the council to clean a necessary part of their culture. Nor would they burn flags and emblems of their neighbours.
But loyalists are not reasonable people. I thinks it’s better to just let them get on with it and take no notice. They’ll get much less enjoyment from it then.
What I would love to know is why the feck is there asbestos lying about in the middle of Belfast? I know we’re a bit of a shit heap here, but asbestos? Seriously?
Morons everywhere ….. everyone in NI has the power to make change but the will is just not there. It’s going to be over many decades and until folks realise that voting in the same charlatans each year gets us nowhere!
The DHLA will do it for free.
So essentially, threaten mob violence and you can pretty much do whatever you want in NI?
Fucking wild.
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synchronicity, or a happy coincidence. ?
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