A village in Northern Ireland has sparked outrage with its “sickening racist” bonfire display featuring an effigy of migrants on a boat. Over a dozen life-sized mannequins mannequins wearing life jackets sit on top of the bonfire in Moygashel, on the outskirts of Dungannon in County Tyrone. There are also several signs below the boat, one stating “stop the boats” and another sying “veterans before refugees”.
Constructed by loyalists, the “absolutely disgusting” display faces calls to be dismantled and removed before it is lit. Colm Gildernew, Sinn Fein Assembly member for Fermanagh and South Tyrone, called it “vile” and “deplorable”. He said: “This is an absolutely disgusting act, fuelled by sickening racist and far-right attitudes. This is a clear incitement to hatred and must be removed immediately. Those who come to our island to make it their home are not the enemy.
“They are our friends, our neighbours, and are welcomed, cherished and valued by the vast majority of people here.
“Political 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.”
Social Democratic and Labour Party leader Claire Hanna also condemned the bonfire, saying those invovled were motivated by “hate, confrontation and media rows”. She wrote on X: “Intricate effigies of humans beings, for burning. Who is this for?”
The Moygashel bonfire has become well known in recent years for contentious displays. 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.
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.
The traditional fires are lit ahead of the main date in the calendar of Protestant loyalists, the Twelfth Of July.
While most of the bonfires go ahead without incident, several have faced criticism over flags, effigies, and election posters being placed on the structures before they are burnt.
A spokesperson for the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) said: “Police are aware of an item placed on a bonfire at the Moygashel area. Inquiries are continuing.”