Concerns continue over stockpiling of bonfire materials in Bogside area
By Alan Healy
Concerns have been raised over the continued stockpiling of bonfire materials in the Bogside area of the city after a government department said it was ‘seeking a resolution’ to the issue.
It comes after the Department of Infrastructure (DfI), said earlier this month it was working with the community and statutory bodies in Derry in an effort to resolve the situation after pallets and other materials were beginning to be stored under the Lecky Road flyover.
However, more pallets are now being stored at the nearby Durrow Park close to the Lecky Road flyover ahead of the August 15 bonfire.
Speaking to the Derry News yesterday, Sinn Fein councillor for the area Patricia Logue said that while there was a lot of work going on to address the issues, residents in the Bogisde are concerned about the materials being left close to their homes.
“No one wants that close to their home, it acts as a magnet for anti-social behaviour and draws people in and this is not the image we want to portray of the area,” she said.
“However, there is a lot of good work going on, and meetings have been held since the start of June with various groups about this issue, including young people from the area.”
Cllr Logue also hit out at comments from the SDLP Foyle MLA Mark H Durkan, who, speaking about the bonfire issue on BBC radio on Friday morning, said that any settlement regarding the bonfire should not be left to the last minute.
“Nothing is being left to the last minute, as there have been ongoing meetings which the SDLP were invited to but did not attend,” she said.
“We will continue working with the local community to find a resolution to this issue.”
Cllr Logue also urged the parents of young people in the area to encourage their children to engage with the summer activities being run by community centres and youth groups in the area.
“Dove House, the Gasyard Centre, the Long Tower Youth Club and the Bishop’s Street Community Centre are all running a wide range of activities over the summer and I would ask local parents and young people to engage with the groups,” she continued.
Meanwhile, Gary Donnelly, the independent councillor for the area, said that while he ‘looked forward to a day where there is no bonfires’, he did have concerns over what he saw as the different approach being taken by some agencies toward the August 15 bonfire and the Eleventh Night bonfire in the Fountain estate.
“The problem is that a lot of good work was being done in the run-up to the bonfire last year,” he said, “but when the PSNI moved in and removed the materials one morning, that resulted in a lot of good relationships that had been built up with the young people being damaged, and trust being lost.”
“I would like to see an end to bonfires because on top of everything else, they pose a serious health hazard, but there are some people in the community who say they don’t mind the bonfires.
“It is a very contentious issue, and I think we have to work with everyone in the community to find a solution to this.”
Cllr Donnelly added: “I would take issue however with the approach of some agencies to the August 15 bonfire and the bonfire lit in the Fountain estate.
“People living in the Bishop Street area were consulted on the August 15 bonfire, yet they were not asked for their opinion on the Fountain bonfire, which is a lot closer to their homes.”