There was disappointment and a hint of anger in the voices of the group of teenagers who were the first to arrive at the Donegall Road/Broadway bonfire this morning. Days of effort destroyed. (link to video)
Sixteen hours early, someone – and fingers were pointing at another community – had lit the unguarded bonfire. The blaze was well underway when the fire truck arrived, briefly pausing before driving off.
What the pictures can’t depict is the wall of heat that hits you – even at that distance – and the stench ().most likely of tyres
The Monarch Street residents will have a quieter than expected Eleventh Night.
Update – Since the Monarch Street bonfire was part of the Belfast City Council management programme – which provides grant assistance in return for socially and environmentally responsible bonfires (ie, no tyres, no burning flags etc) – the council are sending up one of their beacons to this site for this evening. They also build a replacement bonfire to go along with the beacon – pictures over on Alan in Belfast.
Update – Spanish readers can read a translation of this post over at
El norte de Irlanda – Nuevos incidentes de escasa relevancia en Belfast
Alan Meban. Tweets as @alaninbelfast. Blogs about cinema and theatre over at Alan in Belfast. A freelancer who writes about, reports from, live-tweets and live-streams civic, academic and political events and conferences. He delivers social media training/coaching; produces podcasts and radio programmes; is a FactCheckNI director; a member of Ofcom’s Advisory Committee for Northern Ireland; and a member of the Corrymeela Community.