Debate contribution: Bonfire Regulation

Debate contribution by Mr David Brooks on 16 September 2025.

MLA

Mr David Brooks

Party at the time

Democratic Unionist Party

Date

16 September 2025

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Private Members' Business

Heading

Bonfire Regulation

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 5111410

Read the official Assembly record

Text

Once again, we find ourselves debating culture, tradition and identity, and, once again, Sinn Féin comes forward not with proposals to celebrate diversity but to regulate and restrict the traditions of the unionist community. The motion raises the small number of instances in which regrettable and unacceptable messages have been placed on bonfires. While we work with communities to see such things removed, we have seen no such motions from Sinn Féin when there is routine glorification of terrorism at republican events and festivals and no reflection on the hurt that is caused by IRA commemorations and displays. Sinn Féin insists that those are sacrosanct — untouchable. However, when it comes to unionist traditions, suddenly we are told that they must be tightly controlled, monitored and curtailed. Loyalist communities have no intention of going cap in hand to republicans to seek permission to celebrate their long-practised traditions. Let us be very clear: bonfires are not a new phenomenon. They are a centuries-old expression of culture, remembrance and celebration in the unionist community. Some of my best childhood memories are of spending the weeks before the 11 July collecting wood from around my hometown of Comber for our annual bonfire at the barley field. It is a tradition that means a lot to me, and I have always been passionate about the fact that, while beacons and similar have their place, they should never replace traditional bonfires. Bonfires are part of our heritage and are passed down from generation to generation. For Sinn Féin to treat those traditions as though they are nuisances that are to be managed or stamped out is an affront to cultural respect and parity of esteem. Let me tell that party this here and now: they are not going anywhere. Nobody denies that responsibilities come with tradition. Communities have worked hard in recent years to promote safer practices, reduce tensions and, in the main, keep bonfires positive and family-orientated events, notwithstanding the fact that there have been some poor examples. I understand that. However, that progress has come not from top-down regulation that has been imposed by those who have no sympathy for our culture but from engagement, dialogue and local initiatives. Groups such as Legacy Network in my constituency have worked closely with young people from loyalist working-class communities, and we have seen vast improvements at some of the bonfire sites at which there had previously been issues. We will improve things not through nationalist-imposed diktat, which will never run, but through re-engaging with our history and traditions, building and understanding confidence in who we are, learning not just what we do but why, and investing in the work of re-injecting our cultural festivals with a common history and understanding it. An adversarial approach will provoke a similar response, but I often believe that that is what Sinn Féin seeks to do regularly here and in City Hall in particular. The work that has been undertaken with local communities has seen less problematic behaviour. I hope that, in time, we will see bonfires moving away from burning a flag to something more historical or linked to the Twelfth, in a similar way that we have with Guy Fawkes or other fire festivals internationally. However, let us remember that the Members who tabled the motion are not the voice of reason but, rather, the reason that the tricolour has been found on bonfires over the years. It was their comrades who sat in front of the flag, reading statements to justify their latest sectarian bombing or murder for 30 years. They talk about concern over hate, but, for years, Féile an Phobail has hosted the Wolfe Tones's "up the 'RA" bigot-fests at Falls Park, glorifying terrorism. The truth is that Sinn Féin's proposals are not about health and safety but about control. They are about trying to bring a Parades Commission model to other parts of unionist culture. They are about using bureaucracy to chip away at the cultural confidence of the unionist people. I say this to Sinn Féin: if you were genuinely interested in building respect and reconciliation, you would seek to support communities. Our message is simple: hands off our culture. We will continue to work with communities to promote safe and respectful celebrations. Very many people are engaged in that work already, not only themselves but through engagement with public agencies and emergency services. However, we will not stand over Sinn Féin's attempts to dictate terms over unionist traditions. Regulation imposed by those who reject our British identity is not the way forward. It absolutely must have community buy-in. Respect is a two-way street, and it must start with recognising that bonfires are a legitimate and valued part of Northern Ireland's cultural landscape.

791 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Assessment

Qualifying Parades, bonfires and commemorations

Jev’s structured answers

Assessed 21 October 2026 at 13:13 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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