London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Friday, Aug 22, 2025

Northern Ireland’s deputy leader urges calm before loyalist parades

Northern Ireland’s deputy leader urges calm before loyalist parades

Michelle O’Neill concerned about site of unionist bonfire, as tensions rise over post-Brexit trading rules
Northern Ireland’s deputy first minister has urged people to celebrate peacefully before the start of the loyalist parade season, as tensions increase over post-Brexit trading arrangements.

Sinn Féin’s Michelle O’Neill – who is deputy to the new first minister, Paul Givan of the Democratic Unionist party (DUP), in the power-sharing administration – called particularly for calm over a bonfire set up in a contentious site in north Belfast.

Bonfires are traditionally lit in unionist areas on 11 July before parades that take place the following day to mark the victory of the Protestant King William of Orange over King James II, a Catholic, at the Battle of the Boyne in 1690.

One of the bonfires has been set up in the unionist Tiger’s Bay area, adjoining the nationalist New Lodge community, with the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) having refused to protect contractors if they removed the construction, citing the risk of disorder.

Two Stormont ministers, Nichola Mallon of the SDLP and Sinn Féin’s Deirdre Hargey, launched court proceedings to force the PSNI to act, but without success.

Speaking to the BBC on Sunday, O’Neill said the court ruling was disappointing. She said: “Everybody is entitled to celebrate their culture, but this bonfire is on an interface area that draws all the heightened tension. I met with the residents and they feel under siege, their homes have been attacked and that is not acceptable in this day and age.”

The deputy first minister urged calm: “I hope it is a peaceful weekend, I hope it is a calm weekend. All of us in political leadership have a duty to try to ensure that is the case.

“I would call on everyone, enjoy your celebrations, do what it is that you do to enjoy your culture but there is no room for attacking people’s homes. I just hope we have a weekend that we are not looking at the scenes we witnessed a number of weeks ago when we saw tensions in interface areas, none of us want to see that.”

She added: “My message is clear, stay home, don’t be involved in street disorder, that is not where anybody should be.”

More than 160 bonfires are expected to be lit on 12 July, the main date in the Protestant loyalist order parading season. Last year, the parades were cancelled because of Covid, and they will be limited in size this year.

An additional factor is concern among unionists at the implementation of the Northern Ireland protocol, which sets out post-Brexit trade arrangements for the region, including checks on some goods between Northern Ireland the rest of the UK.

Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, the new DUP leader, has demanded the protocol be removed, calling it the “greatest threat to the economic integrity of the United Kingdom in any of our lifetimes”.

Donaldson is the DUP’s third leader in three months, during a period of turmoil within the main unionist party. Arlene Foster was forced out by an internal party revolt mainly inspired by worries about the protocol, and her successor, Edwin Poots, resigned after just 21 days in response to a fresh rebellion, triggered by terms he agreed over a deal to revive the Northern Ireland assembly.

After visiting last week, Labour’s leader, Keir Starmer, described the situation in Northern Ireland as fragile, and said there was considerable mistrust over the protocol.

The protocol is also inflaming tensions between the UK and EU, with Boris Johnson and his Brexit minister, David Frost, accusing Brussels of an overzealous interpretation of its policies, while the EU says the UK is failing to meet its obligations under a deal it signed.

Starmer said there was a feeling in Northern Ireland that Johnson “mis-sold” the deal “and he’s now dumping responsibility for making it work”.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Ukraine Declares De Facto War on Hungary and Slovakia with Terror Drone Strikes on Their Gas Lifeline
Animated K-pop Musical ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ Becomes Netflix’s Most-Watched Original Animated Film
New York Appeals Court Voids Nearly $500 Million Civil Fraud Penalty Against Trump While Upholding Fraud Liability
Elon Musk tweeted, “Europe is dying”
Far-Right Activist Convicted of Incitement Changes Gender and Demands: "Send Me to a Women’s Prison" | The Storm in Germany
Hungary Criticizes Ukraine: "Violating Our Sovereignty"
Will this be the first country to return to negative interest rates?
Child-free hotels spark controversy
North Korea is where this 95-year-old wants to die. South Korea won’t let him go. Is this our ally or a human rights enemy?
Hong Kong Launches Regulatory Regime and Trials for HKD-Backed Stablecoins
China rehearses September 3 Victory Day parade as imagery points to ‘loyal wingman’ FH-97 family presence
Trump Called Viktor Orbán: "Why Are You Using the Veto"
Horror in the Skies: Plane Engine Exploded, Passengers Sent Farewell Messages
MSNBC Rebrands as MS NOW Amid Comcast’s Cable Spin-Off
AI in Policing: Draft One Helps Speed Up Reports but Raises Legal and Ethical Concerns
Shame in Norway: Crown Princess’s Son Accused of Four Rapes
Apple Begins Simultaneous iPhone 17 Production in India and China
A Robot to Give Birth: The Chinese Announcement That Shakes the World
Finnish MP Dies by Suicide in Parliament Building
Outrage in the Tennis World After Jannik Sinner’s Withdrawal Storm
William and Kate Are Moving House – and the New Neighbors Were Evicted
Class Action Lawsuit Against Volkswagen: Steering Wheel Switches Cause Accidents
Taylor Swift on the Way to the Super Bowl? All the Clues Stirring Up Fans
Dogfights in the Skies: Airbus on Track to Overtake Boeing and Claim Aviation Supremacy
Tim Cook Promises an AI Revolution at Apple: "One of the Most Significant Technologies of Our Generation"
Apple Expands Social Media Presence in China With RedNote Account Ahead of iPhone 17 Launch
Are AI Data Centres the Infrastructure of the Future or the Next Crisis?
Cambridge Dictionary Adds 'Skibidi,' 'Delulu,' and 'Tradwife' Amid Surge of Online Slang
Bill Barr Testifies No Evidence Implicated Trump in Epstein Case; DOJ Set to Release Records
Zelenskyy Returns to White House Flanked by European Allies as Trump Pressures Land-Swap Deal with Putin
The CEO Who Replaced 80% of Employees for the AI Revolution: "I Would Do It Again"
Emails Worth Billions: How Airlines Generate Huge Profits
Character.ai Bets on Future of AI Companionship
China Ramps Up Tax Crackdown on Overseas Investments
Japanese Office Furniture Maker Expands into Bomb Shelter Market
Intel Shares Surge on Possible U.S. Government Investment
Hurricane Erin Threatens U.S. East Coast with Dangerous Surf
EU Blocks Trade Statement Over Digital Rule Dispute
EU Sends Record Aid as Spain Battles Wildfires
JPMorgan Plans New Canary Wharf Tower
Zelenskyy and his allies say they will press Trump on security guarantees
Beijing is moving into gold and other assets, diversifying away from the dollar
Escalating Clashes in Serbia as Anti-Government Protests Spread Nationwide
The Drought in Britain and the Strange Request from the Government to Delete Old Emails
Category 5 Hurricane in the Caribbean: 'Catastrophic Storm' with Winds of 255 km/h
"No, Thanks": The Mathematical Genius Who Turned Down 1.5 Billion Dollars from Zuckerberg
The surprising hero, the ugly incident, and the criticism despite victory: "Liverpool’s defense exposed in full"
Digital Humans Move Beyond Sci-Fi: From Virtual DJs to AI Customer Agents
YouTube will start using AI to guess your age. If it’s wrong, you’ll have to prove it
Jellyfish Swarm Triggers Shutdown at Gravelines Nuclear Power Station in Northern France
×