Northern Ireland’s Environment Minister Andrew Muir has said that a contentious loyalist bonfire in south Belfast should not be set alight.
Fresh safety concerns have been raised over asbestos at the site of the fire which is due to be lit on Friday night.
Mr Muir pleaded with anyone who is set to attend the fire to “exercise caution”.
The Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA) said late on Thursday that suspected asbestos had been found at five locations on the bonfire site and 20kg of material was removed.
Elsewhere, posters depicting the Irish rap group Kneecap, and Palestinian flags have appeared on other bonfires.
A bonfire in Eastvale Avenue in Dungannon, Co Tyrone, features the group on a poster with the wording “Kill Your Local Kneecap”, seemingly in response to a clip that emerged from a gig in 2023 which appeared to show a member saying: “The only good Tory is a dead Tory. Kill your local MP.”
Meanwhile, the burning of a separate bonfire on Thursday in Co Tyrone which included an effigy of migrants in a boat drew further condemnation.
Controversy has surrounded the Belfast bonfire at Meridi Street off the Donegall Road which is also close to an electricity substation which powers two hospitals.
The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) said on Thursday that the force would not agree to a request from Belfast City Council to remove the pyre.
Later, the NIEA said an inspection had taken place at the site.
A statement said: “The Northern Ireland Environment Agency can confirm that fragments of suspected asbestos were found at five locations around the site.
“Approximately 20 kilogrammes of suspect material was identified and was immediately removed.”
It added: “The risk assessment that NIEA has provided to partners has consistently indicated that there was a strong possibility that fragments of asbestos could be elsewhere on the site.
“NIEA understand the landowner is due to arrange the removal of all of the asbestos from the site next week, commencing on July 16 2025, but it is important to note that removing the asbestos will be a highly specialised, complex and delicate operation that will require the site to be fully vacated.
“Indeed, the work is of such complexity that the full removal will take a number of weeks.”
Mr Muir, an Alliance Party MLA, told the BBC: “There are many ways to celebrate, but not at this site.
“Personally I respect how important the 11th and 12th is, I understand its importance, but I’d plead with people to exercise caution and not to light this bonfire if they could.”
He added: “The removal of asbestos is very complex and delicate, it requires the site to be completely vacated.
“The site has not been vacated and that’s one of the important issues.”
Dr Alan Stout, chair of the British Medical Association Northern Ireland Council, urged people to stay away from the site.
He said asbestos has caused “untold harm over the years”, and despite being completely banned since 1999 still causes 5,000 deaths a year in the UK.
“If there’s asbestos there, just don’t go there,” he told the BBC.
“Any other circumstance, any other environment, be it a school, be it a hospital, be it a leisure centre, if there is asbestos there, you rope it off, you secure it and you remove it in a safe manner and you do not expose your general population to it.”
The Grand Secretary of the Orange Order Rev Mervyn Gibson said people should “go and enjoy themselves” at the bonfire.
He told the BBC that a council committee vote earlier this week to remove the bonfire was a “political decision”.
He said: “I believe the council voted a couple of weeks ago for the bonfire to go ahead.
“A few days before it, then Sinn Fein and Alliance and the SDLP decide to vote against it.”
Sinn Fein MLA Pat Sheehan accused the DUP of political cowardice.
He also urged people to stay away from the bonfire site, on account of what he described as a health and safety issue.
“It’s clear that this site is completely contaminated with asbestos, it beggars belief,” he said.
“This is not an attack on Orange culture, this is clearly a health and safety issue.
“We’re living in a some sort of crazy parallel universe where an illegal bonfire (is) going to be lit, a fire which could cause criminal damage on a site contaminated with asbestos and right beside a power sub station which provides power to the two main hospitals in Belfast.
“It is one particular party that isn’t giving leadership … at the end of the day, I can’t imagine anything similar happening in the constituency that I represent without every political leader here out shouting for its safe removal.
“The DUP have been absent, they are afraid to take on these people. They are political cowards when it comes to this, and it’s disgraceful what they are doing.”
Hundreds of bonfires will be lit on Friday night ahead of the Orange Order’s July 12 parades on Saturday.
The traditional fires are lit ahead of the main date in the parading calendar of Protestant loyal orders, the Twelfth of July.
While most of the bonfires pass off without incident, several have become the focus of contention due to the placing of flags, effigies and election posters on the structures before they are ignited.
A small number of bonfires were lit on Thursday night, including a controversial pyre in Moygashel, Co Tyrone, which had been widely criticised by political representatives and church leaders after it was topped with an effigy of migrants in a boat.
In a statement released ahead of the fire being lit, the PSNI said they were investigating a hate incident in relation to the fire.
The boat on top of the bonfire contained more than a dozen life-sized mannequins wearing life jackets.
Below the boat were several placards, one saying: “Stop the boats”, and another saying: “Veterans before refugees”.
Sinn Fein MLA Colm Gildernew said the bonfire “was clearly intended to dehumanise people who come to our island seeking a better life”.
He added: “The effigies and displays were abhorrent, driven by vile, far-right and racist attitudes.
“I welcome that police are treating this as a hate incident. It’s vital those responsible are held accountable for their disgusting actions.
“Diversity, inclusion and equality must always triumph over xenophobia and hate.”
