Police are treating a controversial display on the Moygashel bonfire as a hate‑motivated criminal offence, with a 56‑year‑old man, arrested earlier today, still being questioned by police in connection with the investigation.
The man remains in police custody this evening, police have confirmed.
A PSNI spokesperson, on Thursday evening, said: “The display on the Moygashel bonfire is being treated as a hate-motivated criminal offence and we continue to assess the situation.
“Enquiries are continuing and police would appeal to anyone with information which might assist us to contact 101.
“You can also submit a report or information online using the non-emergency reporting form via https://reporting.psni.police.uk/appeals, or contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 or online at www.crimestoppers-uk.org/.”
In a lengthy statement issued this afternoon, the Moygashel Bonfire Association defended the display as a form of political protest and said it was protected under freedom of expression laws.
A spokesperson said they had “noted the predictable fury in respect of the act of political protest at our bonfire site this year”.
They continued: “It is important to note that our cultural expression – the traditional burning of our bonfire – is a distinct concept from our now traditional act of political protest. In Moygashel, we have a now well established position of combining both at our yearly event.
“This year we have focused on an issue of significant public interest. Our display may well shock, offend or outrage others, but nonetheless it is an exercise in our rights under Article 10 of the ECHR, and we note with some irony that it is the ECHR which has so often paved the way for mass illegal immigration and a failure to deport foreign criminals who have come here unlawfully, that also now protects our right to protest in robust terms against that. If there was no uncontrolled illegal mass immigration, we would have no need to protest on this issue.
“Our display expressly does NOT target any individual. We make that very clear. Our opposition is not to people, but rather to ideology and Government policy. Once this is appreciated, then it is very clear this is no more and no less than an act of protest, which is lawful protected expression.”
Citing the English High Court decision in DPP v Hamat Coskun – in which a man was acquitted of burning a Koran – the group said: “We do not have blasphemy laws in the UK, and all public order legislation should be read compatibly with ECHR rights.
“The display this year – opposing ideology and Government policy – reflects the views of many communities in Northern Ireland. It is contained in an area where there is mass community support for the protest, and is not targeted against any individual.
“The irresponsible (and legally illiterate) calls for PSNI to invade the area do nothing other than raise tension in our community, in the mouth of the 11/12/13th July. If this were to occur, then inevitably loyalists from right across Ulster would converge on Moygashel to defend our right to express our culture, and engage in political protest against ideology and Government policy.
“Everyone is welcome to our bonfire, and we look forward to it.”
The row comes on the same day controversial media personality Katie Hopkins visited the site and filmed content beside the display.
In a wholly satirical and sarcastic piece to camera, she described the people of Northern Ireland as “very naughty” and said she was “shocked and horrified” by the bonfire before gleefully giving the display a thumbs‑up and posing for photographs.
Her presence has been met with polarising responses across social media.
The PSNI investigation into the display is ongoing.
