A bonfire topped with an effigy of migrants in a boat has been lit in Co Tyrone, Northern Ireland, prompting a hate incident investigation.
Footage showed a boat containing more than a dozen life-sized mannequins wearing life jackets on top of the fire in Moygashel, above placards saying “stop the boats” and “veterans before refugees”.
It was one of around 300 expected to be lit across Northern Ireland on Thursday and Friday nights (10-11 July), ahead of the Orange Order’s annual July 12 parades.
The pyre is being investigated as a hate incident, the Police Service of Northern Ireland confirmed.
Church of Ireland Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland John McDowell condemned the bonfire as “racist, threatening and offensive”.
Amnesty International’s Northern Ireland director Patrick Corrigan described the pyre as a “vile, dehumanising act that fuels hatred and racism”.
