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Your support makes all the difference.<\/strong>Read more<\/p>\n Effigies of migrants in a boat have been placed on a loyalist bonfire in Northern Ireland, prompting condemnation and calls for the display to be removed ahead of the pyre being lit.<\/p>\n The boat containing more than a dozen life-sized mannequins wearing life jackets has been erected on top of the bonfire in Moygashel on the outskirts of Dungannon in Co Tyrone.<\/p>\n Below the boat are several placards, one stating \u201cstop the boats\u201d and another \u201cveterans before refugees\u201d.<\/p>\n Sinn Fein<\/a> Assembly member for Fermanagh<\/a> and South Tyrone Colm Gildernew branded the display \u201cvile\u201d and \u201cdeplorable\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is an absolutely disgusting act, fuelled by sickening racist and far-right attitudes,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is a clear incitement to hatred and must be removed immediately.<\/p>\n \u201cThose who come to our island to make it their home are not the enemy.<\/p>\n \u201cThey are our friends, our neighbours, and are welcomed, cherished and valued by the vast majority of people here.<\/p>\n \u201cPolitical leaders in this area must step up, call for the removal of these offensive materials and make it clear they do not support such vile, deplorable views.\u201d<\/p>\n SDLP leader Claire Hanna also condemned the bonfire.<\/p>\n She said some involved in the bonfire tradition in Northern Ireland appeared motivation by \u201chate, confrontation and media rows\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cIntricate effigies of humans beings, for burning. Who is this for?\u201d she posted on X.<\/p>\n However, prominent loyalist activist Jamie Bryson insisted the display was a form of \u201cartistic protest\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cEvery year Moygashel bonfire combines artistic protest with their cultural celebration,\u201d he posted on X.<\/p>\n \u201cTheir yearly art has itself become a tradition.<\/p>\n \u201cThis year the focus is on the scandal of mass illegal immigration.\u201d<\/p>\n A spokesperson for the Police Service of Northern Ireland<\/a> (PSNI) said: \u201cPolice<\/a> are aware of an item placed on a bonfire at the Moygashel area. Inquiries are continuing.\u201d<\/p>\n The Moygashel bonfire has become well known in recent years for contentious displays.<\/p>\n Last year, a mock police car was burnt on the top of the bonfire and in 2023 a boat designed to represent the post-Brexit Irish Sea economic border was torched.<\/p>\n Patrick Corrigan, Amnesty International\u2019s Northern Ireland director, described the bonfire as a \u201cvile, dehumanising act that fuels hatred and racism\u201d.<\/p>\n He said: \u201cIt cruelly mocks the suffering of people who risk everything to flee war, persecution, and hardship in search of safety.<\/p>\n \u201cBeyond being morally reprehensible, it incites hostility toward already marginalised and vulnerable communities.<\/p>\n \u201cAmnesty International urges the authorities to ensure its immediate removal and calls on the PSNI to investigate and hold those responsible to account.<\/p>\n \u201cA clear and unequivocal message must be sent that xenophobia and incitement to hatred have no place in our society.\u201d<\/p>\n The Moygashel tower is one of an estimated 300 bonfires that will be lit in loyalist areas across Northern Ireland on the nights of July 10 and 11.<\/p>\n The traditional fires are lit ahead of the main date in the parading calendar of Protestant loyal orders, the Twelfth Of July.<\/p>\n While most of the bonfires pass off without incident, several have become the focus of contention due to the placing of flags, effigies and election posters on the structures before they are ignited.<\/p>\n Other fires have prompted public safety concerns.<\/p>\n