{"id":641054,"date":"2026-08-17T02:12:23","date_gmt":"2026-08-17T02:12:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/641054\/"},"modified":"2026-08-17T02:12:23","modified_gmt":"2026-08-17T02:12:23","slug":"derry-republican-bonfires-treated-as-sectarian-motivated-hate-crimes-by-psni-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/641054\/","title":{"rendered":"Derry republican bonfires treated as \u2018sectarian-motivated hate crimes\u2019 by PSNI \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Three bonfires were set alight in Co Derry<\/a> on Saturday night and are being treated as \u201csectarian-motivated hate crimes\u201d by the Police Service of Northern Ireland<\/a> (PSNI).<\/p>\n

The bonfires were lit in Bligh\u2019s Lane in Creggan, on Lecky Road in the Bogside and on Corrody Road in the Top of the Hill area of the Waterside.<\/p>\n

Hundreds of people, including children, gathered to watch the bonfire on the Lecky Road in the Bogside, some from vantage points.<\/p>\n

Fireworks were also let off before the bonfire was lit.<\/p>\n

Union Jack, Northern Irish and Israeli flags as well as a photo of the First Minister Michelle O\u2019Neill<\/a> were among those attached to the bonfire in the Bogside.<\/p>\n

Other flags, poppy wreaths, banners, political material, sashes, football shirts and other items were also placed on the bonfires.<\/p>\n

\"SymbolsSymbols including a photograph of First Minister Michelle O\u2019Neill, British flags and a Coleraine FC banner on a bonfire in the Bogside in Derry on August 15th. <\/p>\n

Bonfires, traditional in republican areas in Derry, were lit to mark the Feast of the Assumption on August 15th.<\/p>\n

Earlier in the week, on August 13th, the materials, including pallets, to be used for the bonfire on the Lecky Road were removed from underneath the Lecky flyover in the Bogside by the Department for Infrastructure (DfI), with police present.<\/p>\n

PSNI area commander of Derry City and Strabane, chief superintendent Gillian Kearney, said during this operation, a number of other items were uncovered including six poppy wreaths and a WWI commemoration banner. <\/p>\n

Police enquiries into how these items came to be there are under way.<\/p>\n

O\u2019Neill welcomed the removal of bonfire materials in the Bogside.<\/p>\n

According to the BBC, O\u2019Neill said: \u201cI commend those who have removed the pallets and everything else, all the material, because none of us wants to see these anti-social bonfires in our community.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to find ways to celebrate our culture or mark occasions, but don\u2019t do so in a way that endangers your community, that endangers the homes around you and I think it was right and proper that this material was removed,\u201d she told reporters gathered outside during a visit to an Irish-language arts and cultural centre in Derry on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

\"PeoplePeople attend the bonfire in the Bogside in Derry on August 15th. <\/p>\n

However, the bonfire was rebuilt and set alight on Saturday night.<\/p>\n

The PSNI said enquiries are \u201congoing in relation to all of these incidents and all offences will be investigated accordingly.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chief superintendent Kearney said, \u201cthe material placed on bonfires in the city is disgraceful and is to be condemned. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt will have no impact on the work we do every single day to make a difference and help the communities we serve.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sinn F\u00e9in MP John Finucane described the burning of images of O\u2019Neill on bonfires as \u201canti-democratic,\u201d in a statement.<\/p>\n

He said, \u201cthese bonfires are not republican. They are anti-people, anti-community, anti-democratic and are, in their hate filed sectarianism, the very antithesis of Irish republicanism.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese bonfires disgracefully imitate the most offensive aspects of loyalist bonfires in their sectarianism, their criminality and recklessness.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe small number of young people and children involved, often manipulated by others who stand in the shadows, are not representative of the majority of young people who are engaged in positive and productive cultural activities all year round.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe see the future of this island in the positive and inclusive celebration of Irish culture and identity,\u201d he said, adding that the events in Derry on Saturday night \u201ccan have no part in that future.\u201d <\/p>\n

[\u00a0Reward offered for information about murder of journalist Lyra McKee in DerryOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Three bonfires were set alight in Co Derry on Saturday night and are being treated as \u201csectarian-motivated hate…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":641055,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[41],"tags":[9,10,955,13,14,6,11,12,15,16,34866,5,954,952,7,8,65,66,67],"class_list":["post-641054","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-world","tag-breaking-news","tag-breakingnews","tag-derry","tag-featured-news","tag-featurednews","tag-headlines","tag-latest-news","tag-latestnews","tag-main-news","tag-mainnews","tag-michelle-o-neill","tag-news","tag-northern-ireland","tag-police-service-of-northern-ireland-psni","tag-top-stories","tag-topstories","tag-world","tag-world-news","tag-worldnews"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/117108431971646100","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/641054","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=641054"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/641054\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/641055"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=641054"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=641054"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=641054"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}