A model depicting refugees in a boat was set ablaze on a bonfire in Moygashel, a pro-British town near Belfast, sparking widespread condemnation from across Northern Ireland’s political spectrum.
The incident occurred Thursday night, just weeks after attacks on homes believed to house migrants in the region.
Police have launched an investigation, treating the act as a potential hate crime.
The display featured eight figures wearing life jackets in a model boat, placed on top of a massive bonfire built from more than 50 wooden pallets. Alongside the boat were banners reading "Stop the Boats" and "Veterans before Refugees," and an Irish flag.
The bonfire was part of annual 11 July celebrations in Protestant loyalist areas, held on the eve of commemorations for King William of Orange’s 1690 victory at the Battle of the Boyne. Bonfires and parades marking the occasion have historically sparked unrest, even after the 1998 Good Friday Agreement brought relative peace to Northern Ireland.
Footage shared online showed a large crowd watching the bonfire being lit, accompanied by fireworks and music from a pipe band.
Sinn Féin lawmaker Colm Gildernew condemned the act as "deplorable" and accused it of inciting hatred.
Ulster Unionist Party leader and current health minister Mike Nesbitt also criticised the display, saying it was “sickening, deplorable and entirely out of step with what is supposed to be a cultural celebration.”
Both had previously urged for the effigies to be removed before the fire.
The incident follows recent unrest in Ballymena, where masked individuals attacked police, and set homes and vehicles ablaze, raising further concerns about growing tensions surrounding immigration and cultural expressions.
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Türkiye raised its security level for Turkish-flagged vessels in the Strait of Hormuz to Level 3 on Sunday (2 March). The development follows Iranian restrictions on shipping after U.S. and Israeli strikes and confirmation of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s death.
Strikes across the Middle East are intensifying, fuelling travel disruption, driving up global energy prices and forcing diplomatic missions to shut their doors as tensions continue to rise.
U.S. President Donald Trump has said the United States has a “virtually unlimited supply” of munitions and is capable of sustaining military action indefinitely, as the conflict with Iran entered its fourth day.
The United Nations has called for an investigation into a deadly attack on a girls’ primary school in Iran, which Iranian officials say has killed more than 100 children. The U.S. has said its forces “would not” deliberately target a school.
U.S. first lady, Melania Trump chaired a UN Security Council meeting on children and education in conflict on Monday (2 March), a move criticised by Iran as hypocritical following U.S. and Israeli strikes that triggered a UN warning about risks to children.
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