Overview
- Police Service of Northern Ireland is treating the Moygashel bonfire’s display of a migrant boat effigy and xenophobic slogans as a hate incident.
- A model boat carrying mannequins in life jackets was topped with banners reading 'Stop the Boats' and 'Veterans before Refugees' above a pile of wooden pallets.
- Political and religious leaders across Northern Ireland condemned the display as “deplorable”, “vile” and a clear incitement to hatred.
- Loyalist activist Jamie Bryson defended the effigy burning as legitimate political protest, citing a European Court of Human Rights ruling on effigy expression.
- Chief Constable Jon Boutcher has deployed officers to 300 planned bonfires and vowed firm, proportional action to keep communities safe and uphold respect for all backgrounds.