A very big bonfire...

Richard and I often visit Larne in June or July, and so we regularly see the preparations for 'Eleventh Night' bonfires. The main image shows the one in preparation on the way into town from R's sister's house.  It's in a small park near the Caterpillar factory, and near a network of small terraced streets. A protestant, loyalist area.  The extras show some of those streets, with their kerbs painted in union jack colours, and a little group working on the arch that will be erected near the park at the start of July.  The group is working in the car park of the Larne Glasgow Rangers supporters' club. We asked their permission, and they were happy for us to take the photos. 

Wikipedia provides a more succinct description of these events, and their often violent history, than I could possibly manage. I've pasted part of it in below; the whole entry is worth reading, especially as it includes descriptions of recent attempts to shift the bonfires away from their sectarian emphasis and towards something more broadly community-focused.  Will it work? I'm glad it's being attempted.

Here's the Wikipedia extract. The full link is here:            https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eleventh_Night

"In Ulster, the Eleventh Night or 11th Night refers to the night before the Twelfth of July, an Ulster Protestant celebration. On this night, large towering bonfires are lit in Protestant loyalist areas of Northern Ireland, and are often accompanied by street parties[1] and loyalist marching bands. The bonfires are mostly made of wooden pallets and tyres. They originally celebrated the Williamite conquest of the 1690s, which began the Protestant Ascendancy in Ireland.[2] The event is regularly condemned for displays of sectarian or ethnic hatred against Irish Catholics and Irish nationalists, such as the burning of the Irish tricolour, and for the damage and pollution caused. Some bonfire events are controlled by loyalist paramilitaries, and authorities may be wary of intervening due to the threat of violence.[3] There have been attempts to make some bonfires more family-friendly and environmentally-friendly. It is also known as "bonfire night".[4][5][6] In 2021, there were about 250 Eleventh Night bonfires.[7]"

All of this is a sad reminder of what is at stake - and is perhaps being fatally threatened - with the continuing mess arising from Brexit, and the threat that it poses to the peace process in Northern Ireland.