{"id":1081539,"date":"2026-07-10T23:26:28","date_gmt":"2026-07-10T23:26:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1081539\/"},"modified":"2026-07-10T23:26:28","modified_gmt":"2026-07-10T23:26:28","slug":"psni-dispute-claims-it-scaled-back-presence-in-moygashel-ahead-of-bonfire-hate-display-the-irish-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1081539\/","title":{"rendered":"PSNI dispute claims it \u2018scaled back\u2019 presence in Moygashel ahead of bonfire hate display \u2013 The Irish News"},"content":{"rendered":"

A senior PSNI officer<\/a> has disputed claims the police \u2018scaled back\u2019 their presence in Moygashel before a replica mosque was placed on a loyalist bonfire.<\/p>\n

Assistant Chief Constable Ryan Henderson was responding to claims by UUP Deputy Leader Diana Armstrong that police \u201creduced\u201d their presence in Moygashel<\/a> after she expressed concerns. <\/p>\n

SDLP Policing Board member Colin McGrath later called on police to clarify their position.<\/p>\n

The hate display, which was put in place on Wednesday, was due to be lit on Friday night as part of loyalist July12 celebrations.<\/p>\n

\"PSNI<\/a>\"Belfast<\/a><\/p>\n

However, the pyre and display were set alight after police moved in to remove it on Thursday night.<\/p>\n

Two signs were placed on the bonfire reading \u201csecure our borders\u201d and \u201cend the threat of radical Islam\u201d, while a figure holding what appears to be an Isis flag was also added.<\/p>\n

A UVF flag was also flown nearby. <\/p>\n

Brian Conrad Neill, 56, of Hollow Mills, Newmills, Dungannon appeared in court on Friday charged with incitement<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Earlier this week Ms Armstrong claimed police \u201creduced\u201d their presence in Moygashel after she expressed concerns.<\/p>\n

Ms Armstrong, who is an assembly member for Fermanagh and South Tyrone, said on social media that in \u201cresponding to feedback from the Moygashel community\u201d she had spoken to the PSNI.<\/p>\n

The senior UUP woman said she \u201cexpressed the concerns at the level of policing in previous days\u201d.<\/p>\n

She claims that police \u201cconfirmed that patrols have been reduced from last night (Tuesday) and that they are engaging with the community in the area\u201d.<\/p>\n

The replica mosque was moved into place by loyalists after Ms Armstrong\u2019s intervention and the time she claims the police operation was \u2018scaled back\u2019.<\/p>\n

Mr Henderson said \u201cpolice carried out proactive, high visibility patrolling in Moygashel\u201d and other areas \u201cto ensure public safety for all of our communities in the run up to the Twelfth period\u201d.<\/p>\n

The senior officer contradicted Ms Armstrong\u2019s claim.<\/p>\n

\u201cThroughout the week local police spoke with a number political representatives who relayed that local people were unhappy with the heightened police presence in Moygashel specifically, however whilst we engaged and listened to the concerns, operationally the police presence in the area remained the same,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Several attempts were made to contact Ms Armstrong but she did not respond.<\/p>\n

\"SDLPSDLP Policing Board member Colin McGrath (Liam McBurney\/PA) <\/p>\n

SDLP Policing Board member Colin McGrath had called on police to clarify their position.<\/p>\n

\u201cGiven the incidents we have seen at the Moygashel Bonfire in the past, and reporting and the comments of a local MLA this week, the PSNI must confirm whether or not there was a decision taken to scale back its presence in the area in the lead up to this year\u2019s bonfire,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe police cannot bow to political pressure<\/a>, particularly when it comes to something as contentious as this.<\/p>\n

\u201cPolicing must be free from political interference at all times.\u201d <\/p>\n

Police have also faced questions after Jamie Bryson suggested loyalists in Moygashel were \u2018tipped off\u2019 by police officers about there movements ahead of Thursday\u2019s failed operation to remove the replica mosque.<\/p>\n

ACC Henderson responded to that claim, saying: \u201cPolice are aware of claims that bonfire builders were alerted to a \u2018police mobilisation\u2019 by members of the emergency services including police. There is no credible evidence to date that this was the case.\u201d<\/p>\n

Elsewhere in Moygashel and loyalists have been involved in a tit-for-tat stand-off after a \u2018no Muslims welcome\u2019 banner was attached to the fence of a children\u2019s playpark in the village.<\/p>\n

In June DUP councillor Clement Cuthbertson demanded \u201ca full explanation\u201d from the PSNI after officers removed the offensive banner.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A senior PSNI officer has disputed claims the police \u2018scaled back\u2019 their presence in Moygashel before a replica…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1081540,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5011],"tags":[43957,80196,188,84431,295960,1144,285,1618,16,15],"class_list":["post-1081539","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-northern-ireland","tag-bonfire","tag-co-tyrone","tag-crime","tag-dungannon","tag-moygashel-bonfire","tag-northern-ireland","tag-politics","tag-psni","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1081539","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1081539"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1081539\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1081540"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1081539"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1081539"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1081539"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}