On the night before The Twelfth—the "Eleventh Night"—huge towering bonfires are lit in many Protestant unionist neighbourhoods i
On the night before The Twelfth—the "Eleventh Night"—huge towering bonfires are lit in many Protestant unionist neighbourhoods in Northern Ireland. In many of these areas the bonfires are family-friendly community celebrations. However, not all Protestants attend the bonfires and most Catholics avoid them. They have been condemned for displays of sectarian and ethnic hatred, anti-social behaviour, and for the damage and pollution caused by the fires. The flag of Ireland, Irish nationalist symbols, Catholic symbols, and effigies, are usually burnt on the fires. More recently, symbols of the large Polish immigrant community have been burnt on the fires, which the Polish Association of Northern Ireland has described as "racist intimidation". Loyalist paramilitaries have also used the event to hold "shows of strength", in which masked gunmen fire volleys of shots into the air and petrol bombs used to light the bonfire. However, in recent years, there have been attempts to make the bonfires more family-friendly and environmentally-friendly
Size: 5760px × 3840px
Location: Antrim, Northern Ireland
Photo credit: © Feature Eye Images / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., anti-social, areas, association, attend, avoid, behaviour, bonfires, burnt, catholic, catholics, caused, celebrations., community, condemned, damage, displays, effigies, eleventh, ethnic, event, family-friendly, fire, fires, fires., flag, gunmen, hatred, hold, immigrant, intimidation., ireland, ireland., irish, large, lit, loyalist, masked, nationalist, neighbourhoods, nigh, night, night—huge, northern, paramilitaries, polish, pollution, protestant, protestants, racist, sectarian, shows, strength, symbols, towering, twelfth—, unionist
