Northern Ireland

Council injunction does not cover the lighting of bonfires

Belfast City Council has said its injunction relating to bonfires does "not make any specific reference" to the lighting of the pyres
Belfast City Council has said its injunction relating to bonfires does "not make any specific reference" to the lighting of the pyres Belfast City Council has said its injunction relating to bonfires does "not make any specific reference" to the lighting of the pyres

BELFAST City Council has said an injunction preventing material being added to four bonfires "does not make any any specific reference" to lighting the pyres.

The injunction states that anyone attempting to enter the council-owned sites, all in east Belfast, "for the purposes of directing, building, organising and/or constructing bonfires and/or providing materials for use on a bonfire" is prohibited from doing so.

The sites are at Ravenscroft Avenue car park/Bloomfield walkway, Avoniel Leisure Centre car park, Inverary playing fields and Cregagh Park East.

Sinn Féin and Alliance have both claimed that unionist parties backed the injunction, but the council said yesterday that details of the inter-agency meeting attended by councillors representing the Titanic Area "remain confidential".

Asked if the injunction still allows people to light bonfires, a spokeswoman said: “The injunction was obtained in the context of preserving public safety and avoiding and minimising damage to property. In particular its purpose was to prevent more materials from reaching the sites in question.

"The injunction does not make any specific reference to the lighting of the bonfire. The council will review any information received – either directly or via the police – relating to any persons allegedly breaching the injunction, and will consider what further action is appropriate."

The council also confirmed that "a threat to staff" has been reported to the PSNI and "as a result of this and increasing community tensions, some staff have been restricted from carrying out duties in some parts of east Belfast".

But the spokeswoman refused to explain why the injunction granted last Thursday was only made public on Friday evening.

She said the council did not comment on "operational issues" but any suggestions of an attempt to limit media scrutiny were "completely unfounded".