Northern Ireland

DUP requests 'call-in' of council bonfire licensing scheme decision

Mid Ulster District Council last month voted to introduce what is considered the north's first bonfire licensing scheme
Mid Ulster District Council last month voted to introduce what is considered the north's first bonfire licensing scheme Mid Ulster District Council last month voted to introduce what is considered the north's first bonfire licensing scheme

THE DUP has requested a 'call-in' of a council decision to introduce a licensing scheme for bonfires on its land.

Mid Ulster District Council last month voted to introduce what is considered the north's first bonfire licensing scheme.

It requires that "no hazardous or toxic materials are collected, stored or burned", and that "no flags, emblems or effigies are burned".

The decision was supported by nationalist parties, but heavily criticised by unionists who branded it a "dictatorial approach" that will "damage community relations".

The call-in procedure can be requested if 15 per cent of councillors believe a decision was not properly reached or would adversely affect a section of the community.

A lawyer is then asked to examine the decision to help determine whether it should be reconsidered.

In their letter requesting a call-in, reported in the Tyrone Courier, DUP councillors said the bonfire decision had a "direct discriminatory impact on Protestants and unionists".

A Mid Ulster council spokesman said: "An admissible call-in has been received in relation to the council's decision on bonfire procedures of March 22 2018.

"As required under the Local Government Act, legal opinion has been sought and the decision will be brought back to the council for reconsideration."

There are currently eight bonfires held on council land across the district.

According to a council report, the local authority spent more than £17,500 clearing up pyre sites in June and July last year.

The council removed tyres from several sites in Cookstown ahead of last year's Eleventh Night bonfires.