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McShane effigy attached to loyalist bonfire

Effigies of independent councillors Padraig McShane and Gary Donnelly and Palestinian representative Mohammed Al-Halabi on a bonfire in Bushmills. Picture by Steven McAuley
Effigies of independent councillors Padraig McShane and Gary Donnelly and Palestinian representative Mohammed Al-Halabi on a bonfire in Bushmills. Picture by Steven McAuley Effigies of independent councillors Padraig McShane and Gary Donnelly and Palestinian representative Mohammed Al-Halabi on a bonfire in Bushmills. Picture by Steven McAuley

A solicitor has asked questions of Co Antrim council after a councillor's effigy was placed on a loyalist bonfire.

The straw-filled effigy of Causeway Coast and Glens councillor Padraig McShane is believed to have been added to the bonfire at Bushmills on Sunday.

A red target was also painted on the head along with the words "Padraig McShane army council".

It is believed the site of the bonfire is owned by Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council.

Mr McShane's solicitor Michael Brentnall last night said the position of the council needs to be established.

"We have requested from the Causeway Coast and Glens Council the disclosure of the role the council had in the facilitation or funding of a recent Eleventh night bonfire in Bushmills in which serious threats and allegations were made against our client," he said.

It is not the first time the former Sinn Fein member has been targeted.

He was visited by police after a death threat written on a tricolour was hung from a loyalist bonfire in nearby Dervock last year.

His family home was later targeted by arsonists in an attack blamed on the UDA.

Effigies of Derry and Strabane independent councillor Gary Donnelly and Palestinian representative Mohammed Al-Halabi, who recently visited the north, also featured on the Bushmills bonfire.

Loyalists were attempting to recreate a controversial photograph taken during visit by the Palestinian official to the Causeway Coast and Glens council’s HQ in Coleraine last month.

The picture, which sparked anger among unionists, showed two Derry councillors with Mr Al-Halabi and Mr McShane along with a Palestinian flag and tricolour draped over a table in the council chamber.