Cllr Long, a member of Castlereagh Council’s Interagency Bonfire Group, was speaking after the placing of Alliance and Sinn Fein posters to the structure in Ballybeen. He has now reported it to police, saying that action must be taken to prevent this sort of activity if a truly shared future is to be created.
He called for decisive action to be taken against those who refuse to engage in Council-operated bonfire schemes, contrasting both this site and another in Ballybeen with hundreds of tyres on it, with the positive work being done at other bonfires without tyres or abuse of election posters.
“Another bonfire being plastered in election posters is a disgrace. A huge banner promoting a terrorist organisation nearby is also totally unacceptable. It is time for decisive action to be taken to tackle bonfire builders acting in this manner and refusing to engage with the council.
“As someone who has worked on the local Interagency Bonfire Group for over a decade, it is frustrating to see these renegade bonfires continue to overshadow the positive work undertaken elsewhere in Castlereagh.
“If bonfires on the scheme fail to meet guidelines, they can lose funding. But there appears to be no sanction against those who simply fail to engage and appear to get away with doing whatever they want.”
ENDS