Unionists say changing rooms should not be delayed by bonfire

There has been a debate about the impact of the new changing rooms on the site of a loyalist bonfire and vice-versa and a Council report had suggested that work on the new facility would not start until after this year's bonfire event was held.

The Council report said it was also agreed at a meeting involving local people that a new location for the bonfire would be found before work on the changing rooms would take place.

But at the main monthly meeting of Moyle Council, Bushmills DUP councillor David McAllister said the work on the new changing rooms should begin straight away as he did not think anyone would build the bonfire too close to the new facility and that was agreed by the Council.

At the same meeting, Sinn Fein councillor Oliver McMullan again expressed his opposition to the Council using ratepayers' money to pay for a concrete base to assist in any bonfire clean-up.

Ulster Unionist councillor Willie Graham said he would like to see a site agreed for the bonfire.

Cllr McAllister said there were issues with a covenant involving the MacNaghten Estates and Moyle Council and he said a car boot sale had to be cancelled recently.

He believed the covenant issue could mean there will never be another bonfire at Dundarave.

Council Chief Executive Richard Lewis said issues are mentioned in the Covenant which he said had not been completely bought out by the Council but he said it was possible people in the local community could come to an arrangement with the MacNaghten Estate.

Cllr McMullan said it was not Council policy to get involved with bonfires and he said he would not like to think they were wasting Council officer's time by having them going out and holding discussions about bonfires.

Ulster Unionist councillor Willie Graham said no matter whether Moyle Council allow a bonfire or not he said the people of Bushmills will have a bonfire and he invited all councillors to attend.

Cllr McMullan asked for an assurance that no Council officer's time would be spent on the bonfire issue and Cllr Graham said Cllr McMullan was saying that "because he thinks it (Bushmills) is not part of the Moyle area".

Council Vice-Chairperson, Cllr Robert McIlroy (DUP), who was chairing the meeting in the absence of Sinn Fein's Cara McShane, accused Cllr McMullan of "just wanting to grab a headline".

Cllr McIlroy said there is a culture in Bushmills surrounding bonfires and he said there is a way of handling such issues and he said the attitude seemed to be there was no shared future thinking when it comes to helping the Unionist community of Bushmills.

Cllr McIlroy said councillors were there to try and help communities sort out problems.

Independent councillor Seamus Blaney said if they agreed to do work on a bonfire in Bushmills there would be two or three Halloween bonfires in Ballycastle which need cleaned up.

Cllr McMullan said it was wrong of Cllr McIlroy to come up with the 'headline grabbing' accusation.

Cllr McMullan said it is the case that the Council could not spend ratepayers' money on "promoting" bonfires.

He said Cllr McIlroy was very wrong to try and turn it into a "sectarian issue" and he said they should be spending Council money on things that are of more benefit to ratepayers.

Cllr McIlroy said a community in Larne got schools and churches involved and came together and the situation around a bonfire issue changed "and that's what I'm trying to get in Bushmills."

Cllr McAllister said the people of Bushmills are also ratepayers and deserve to get money spent there.