A SINN Féin councillor in Belfast has urged residents whose homes were damaged by a bonfire to sue his own council.
Ciaran Beattie, a councillor in west Belfast, made the comment in a Facebook post about the blaze at Victoria Place in the Sandy Row area of south Belfast.
There was scorch damage to apartments, windows were cracked and residents were forced to evacuate the building on Wellwood Street during the bonfire last Tuesday night.
Residents in the apartment block have voiced anger at the damage and queried which statutory agency will pay for repairs.
Councillor Beattie wrote: "Residents should sue Belfast City Council and councillors who liaised and worked with bonfire builders rather than doing their best to stop it!"
Last month Sinn Féin group leader on Belfast City Council, Jim McVeigh, encouraged people to "speak to their solicitor" if they felt bonfires using pallets held by the local authority had affected their home or business.
[ Read more: Residents tell of bonfire 'night of hell'Opens in new window ]
One resident of Victoria Place, who asked not to be named, told The Irish News that legal action had been discussed as an option.
"The situation has left residents wondering what options are open both in terms of helping us now and preventing similar actions in future."
He said: "He (Councillor Beattie) is not the first people to suggest that the agencies involved have left themselves open to legal challenge on this."
