Sinn Féin has said failing to tear down pyre would be victory for mob rule, but PSNI says intervention carries more risk
Police have refused a Belfast city council request to help dismantle a controversial loyalist bonfire that is believed to pose risks to public health and to energy supplies.
The Police Service of Northern Ireland said on Thursday that letting the bonfire go ahead was less risky than trying to stop it – a decision that Sinn Féin said would be giving in to mob rule.
The towering pyre on Meridi Street off Donegall Road – one of approximately 300 bonfires that are to be lit on Thursday and Friday in loyalist commemorations – is on a site that contains asbestos and is close to an electricity substation that powers two hospitals
On Wednesday a city council committee voted to send contractors to dismantle the bonfire and asked police to help, creating a dilemma for police because paramilitary groups warned of “widespread disorder” if the pyre was removed. Pat Sheehan, a Sinn Féin assembly member, said authorities could not let “mob rule” prevail.
