Church leaders condemn bonfire effigy of refugees in small boat
Bonfires are lit annually in some unionist areas across Northern Ireland in July to usher in the Twelfth of July, the main date in the parading season.The majority are lit on the Eleventh night.The Twelfth commemorates the Battle of the Boyne in 1690 when the Protestant King William III defeated Catholic King James II."I hope that the many people from other countries, who live in that area, and who contribute so much to the economy and to the diversity of Dungannon, can be reassured that it does not in any way represent the feeling of the vast majority of their neighbours," added the archbishop.
Dr David Clements, senior Methodist minister, has told BBC Radio Ulster's Evening Extra programme that the effigy should be removed from the top of a bonfire in County Tyrone before it set alight.Moygashel Bonfire Committee has said that the bonfire "topper" should not be seen as "racist, threatening or offensive" and it is "expressing our disgust at the ongoing crisis that is illegal immigration".
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