The day centre gates at night

Guest writer Gerard O'Halloran with a piece on the bonfire in his area where he lives in West Belfast.

The good news for Feile an Phobail which is bringing joy and jobs to west Belfast at a time of year once marked by horror and hardship' - Andersonstown News

This past week we have got caught up in the bonfire issue. This was never our fight. We entered into the issue around bonfires due to the negative impact one bonfire was having upon a disabled facility in Beechmount. It was inevitable that we were going to get caught up in this. This past week or so we were so concerned about this negative impact on our daughters' day centre that we were compelled to go to Sinn Fein and anyone else who would listen to us. To be fair they gave us a good hearing. And Ciaran Beattie, councillor for the area, explained to us that the bonfire would have been cleared a few weeks ago but for the parish priest who refused permission for workers to go on to the land owned by the Church and have it cleared.

To cut a long story short, after all the to-ing and fro-ing between all the statutory agencies involved, Ciaran Beattie invited us along to a multi agency meeting in the Belfast regeneration office behind the Leaf Bar. And assembled there was all the agencies involved including three officers from the PSNI.

We put our case, again stating that the bonfire was not our issue. It was the negative impact on the centre being used as the main entrance to the bonfire and how this was affecting the centre. Everyone nodded agreement. The board was to send someone out and have the ground in the centre cleaned of debris and look into things. Ciaran Beattie told us that Sinn Fein had been having meetings with the agencies involved since February and at the minute they were working on clearing Divis, and that the meeting was about Divis but that they'd been hoping to move on up the road.

It came to our attention that money had been set aside to clear these bonfires. This information didn't come from Sinn Fein but it seems to have substance to it. And many in the local situation understood that a meeting took place in the parish centre and that Sinn Fein had finally given the nod to the bonfire as it was the last before the ground was to be handed over to the Davitt's GAA. This has categorically been rubbished by Sinn Fein.

What is clear is that the city council will not lift bonfire rubbish. It has been tendered out to a private company and they along with the police come out to clear bonfires. However after clearing Divis two weeks ago they did it again this week, and we were told that the pallets had been bolted together and these bundles of pallets were put together and stacked on top of each other making them immovable by JCB and that youths were sitting on them providing security so that it wasn't safe to move in and dismantle the bonfires easily. Its clear from the pictures taken on Cullingtree Road that its not the council doing this but an outside firm as the vans are not council vans but white boxed in things. And the workers clearing the bonfires are not wearing the distinctive yellow coats of council workers.

 White boxed in vans: clearly not council
Some of the young people around the Beechmount bonfire had stated that Sinn Fein were hypocritical, denouncing underage drinking at the bonfires but allowing it at the Feile. That was agreed. Most of the youths said they couldn't go to the Feile because everything cost so much and that building the bonfires relieved boredom. Disaffected youth let down by all and ignored until their behaviour brings them into the public's attention.

These youths are let down. They have no work, strong young men being wasted by unemployment and grinding poverty. Stormont hasn't delivered for them or their parents, and the Feile isn't bringing much joy or jobs to them. I doubt they meant any harm to the disabled in the centre, unaware of the impact on vulnerable adults that their behaviour brought. I know this because when it was pointed out to them you could see it in their faces. They didn't mean harm to the disabled.

Which brings us full circle to the internment issue. All sides are against anti-social behaviour around bonfires. But the Feile isn't an alternative to them. The Feile like the Clonard novena doesn't bring any money into the area around it as far as I can see. And if it does then why don't the committee provide us, the public, with figures to see what the real picture is? There may be funding given to Feile but its for Feile not for communities. But it would be interesting to see if local business benefit from Ireland's biggest community festival and just how much the people's festival is really about the people and not just a capitalist enterprise to make money from the people.

Feile Good bonfires ...

The day centre gates at night

Guest writer Gerard O'Halloran with a piece on the bonfire in his area where he lives in West Belfast.

The good news for Feile an Phobail which is bringing joy and jobs to west Belfast at a time of year once marked by horror and hardship' - Andersonstown News

This past week we have got caught up in the bonfire issue. This was never our fight. We entered into the issue around bonfires due to the negative impact one bonfire was having upon a disabled facility in Beechmount. It was inevitable that we were going to get caught up in this. This past week or so we were so concerned about this negative impact on our daughters' day centre that we were compelled to go to Sinn Fein and anyone else who would listen to us. To be fair they gave us a good hearing. And Ciaran Beattie, councillor for the area, explained to us that the bonfire would have been cleared a few weeks ago but for the parish priest who refused permission for workers to go on to the land owned by the Church and have it cleared.

To cut a long story short, after all the to-ing and fro-ing between all the statutory agencies involved, Ciaran Beattie invited us along to a multi agency meeting in the Belfast regeneration office behind the Leaf Bar. And assembled there was all the agencies involved including three officers from the PSNI.

We put our case, again stating that the bonfire was not our issue. It was the negative impact on the centre being used as the main entrance to the bonfire and how this was affecting the centre. Everyone nodded agreement. The board was to send someone out and have the ground in the centre cleaned of debris and look into things. Ciaran Beattie told us that Sinn Fein had been having meetings with the agencies involved since February and at the minute they were working on clearing Divis, and that the meeting was about Divis but that they'd been hoping to move on up the road.

It came to our attention that money had been set aside to clear these bonfires. This information didn't come from Sinn Fein but it seems to have substance to it. And many in the local situation understood that a meeting took place in the parish centre and that Sinn Fein had finally given the nod to the bonfire as it was the last before the ground was to be handed over to the Davitt's GAA. This has categorically been rubbished by Sinn Fein.

What is clear is that the city council will not lift bonfire rubbish. It has been tendered out to a private company and they along with the police come out to clear bonfires. However after clearing Divis two weeks ago they did it again this week, and we were told that the pallets had been bolted together and these bundles of pallets were put together and stacked on top of each other making them immovable by JCB and that youths were sitting on them providing security so that it wasn't safe to move in and dismantle the bonfires easily. Its clear from the pictures taken on Cullingtree Road that its not the council doing this but an outside firm as the vans are not council vans but white boxed in things. And the workers clearing the bonfires are not wearing the distinctive yellow coats of council workers.

 White boxed in vans: clearly not council
Some of the young people around the Beechmount bonfire had stated that Sinn Fein were hypocritical, denouncing underage drinking at the bonfires but allowing it at the Feile. That was agreed. Most of the youths said they couldn't go to the Feile because everything cost so much and that building the bonfires relieved boredom. Disaffected youth let down by all and ignored until their behaviour brings them into the public's attention.

These youths are let down. They have no work, strong young men being wasted by unemployment and grinding poverty. Stormont hasn't delivered for them or their parents, and the Feile isn't bringing much joy or jobs to them. I doubt they meant any harm to the disabled in the centre, unaware of the impact on vulnerable adults that their behaviour brought. I know this because when it was pointed out to them you could see it in their faces. They didn't mean harm to the disabled.

Which brings us full circle to the internment issue. All sides are against anti-social behaviour around bonfires. But the Feile isn't an alternative to them. The Feile like the Clonard novena doesn't bring any money into the area around it as far as I can see. And if it does then why don't the committee provide us, the public, with figures to see what the real picture is? There may be funding given to Feile but its for Feile not for communities. But it would be interesting to see if local business benefit from Ireland's biggest community festival and just how much the people's festival is really about the people and not just a capitalist enterprise to make money from the people.

9 comments:

  1. Refreshing and relevant post Gerard, I am and always have been opposed to anything that mimics of the antics of loyalism be it bonfires fleg flying or painting kerbs ,the relevant point in your post is that while pockets are being filled and jobs for the boys secured the kids and indeed the majority of the population are receiving no benefits from the "peace process"other than an absence of violence,what should have been a peoples festival is now just one big money making venture and wankers like the Wolf Tones showing up singing rebel songs when all through the dark days of the recent troubles the fuckers would,nt set a foot near the place,the lack of community adhesion and leadership is down to the fact that a group of self serving egotistical bastards lumped under the banner of quisling $inn £eind control the purse strings and community posts and while these wasters hold the power then the future for the kids in these areas is indeed blacker than the smoke from poisoned tyre filled bonfires.

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  2. Gerard, I know where you're coming from ie the price of anything that goes on in Feile now (to me it is a racket now, with certain people lining their pockets from it). But I've seen other areas of Belfast where there are smaller festivals before, during and after the 9th where a lot of the activities are free and the ones that aren't are very cheap. Yet, we still have young (and not so young) people having bonfires. The people I am talking about are nothing but a scourge on their local communities, they are the scum of the earth, they wouldn't know how to spell internment let alone know what they are having a bonfire for. The reason they keep on with this "tradition" is to have an all night (and day) drink and drug party. There is not one of them that has a political thought in their head. Local people are sick to the teeth with all of this. The PSNI don't give a fuck about people in these areas, nor what goes on in them (they never did and never will, while they have aforementioned hoods on their payroll). I sympathise with you as I have a kid with learning difficulties and I wouldn't like it if the place he goes to, couldn't open because of a bunch of scumbags and morons.

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  3. Scumbegs n morons.EH.You mightn remember 69 The long haired ones they were called then defended the place when the ruc scum attacked.The same armed ruc who decended in the lower wack and moved the kids wood these kids have nothing else as dark said gfa...got fuck all..

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  4. BelfastGit,

    I think if anyone is to be blamed for the existence of this bonfire, it's the parish priest. I didn't believe SF when they told me an offer had been made to clear the land and the parish priest refused. We rang him and indeed he did refuse the Sinn Fein efforts. We challenged Ciaran Beattie to accompany us up to st Paul's and he did, but the priest was out. The parish priest then rang Ciaran Beattie while we were sitting there and then hung up on him. We couldn't believe it, but it's true.

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  5. Billy Brooks, I do remember '69, I was about 8 years of age at the time, but I've got a good memory. I don't see the point you're trying to make. The "long haired ones" you refer to, what wood were they guarding in 1969? Was the wood for the 15th of August bonfire? I used to love that when I was a kid, but when I grew up like Marty, I hate anything that mirrors the morons and scumbags who have an orgy of drink and drugs on the 11th night. The people who defended their areas against RUC and B Special scumbags, (whether long haired or not) are to be highly commended, I'm talking about now, where ordinary people (like me) are going to be tortured by scumbags, morons and anti-social hoods until (if we're lucky) at least 7 to 8am tomorrow.

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  6. "I think if anyone is to be blamed for the existence of this bonfire, it's the parish priest. I didn't believe SF when they told me an offer had been made to clear the land and the parish priest refused".
    Gerard, I didn't blame anyone for the erection of that bonfire except for the people who are responsible for erecting it. I don't know, but maybe the parish priest was intimidated by them, along with the SF rep. I've seen it in my own area, where SF, SDLP and other reps went to try to dissuade them from that kind of activity and were unceremoniously told to fuck off!

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  7. I have said before on this site that bonfires in the current form are a bad idea. There is a definite and urgent need to provide an alternative.

    Gerard made an important point that the people involved have no amenities or other facilities to keep them occupied in their free time.

    There should be an effort to provide a future for people with trades and secure employment but that is the big picture.

    The immediate problem could be solved by using large beacons instead of bonfires and then using the grant for using a beacon to provide something for the youngsters to do. Paint balling, go-karting or something.

    The smoke from the current bonfires are a health hazard but thankfully not many tyres have been used. The smoke from tyres are highly carcinogenic.

    Beacons are safer, cleaner, burn longer and are brighter.

    Many loyalists are progressive in the sense that they use beacons and get a grant for doing so.

    Let's not be left behind. Lets lead the way with the safer beacons and spend the money for the local youth to enjoy.

    Marty is right with the examples of copying loyalist antics. It even extends to attacking people of difference in some nationalist areas. Reports of racially motivated violence started right after the UVF started the trend. The government are happy enough seeing the ghettoisation of both nationalist and unionist areas in this way.

    Let's not play their game.

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  8. Belfastgit..Local reps went to dissuade them.alec atwood and thon scroat maskey not a bit of wonder they were told to fuck away aff.Internments still alive n kicking here.all together now.Armoured cars n tanks n guns came to take away our sons.

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  9. Billy Brooks, did you actually read what I said? Or is it that you are actually "full" and dancing around one of those bonfires?

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