Never miss a thing from Belfast and beyond - sign up for FREE updates direct to your email inbox Subscribe Thank you for subscribing See our privacy notice Invalid Email

A protest over a council decision to remove a bonfire from East Belfast has been told: “This bonfire is going nowhere”.

Hundreds attended the protest at the gates of Avoniel Leisure Centre on Tuesday night.

It came as contractors were expected to remove the pyre on council orders.

Robert Girvin, from East Belfast Cultural Collective, which oversees 13 bonfires was defiant.

He told the crowd: “This bonfire is going nowhere. This bonfire is being lit. I give you a guarantee. There will be a bonfire here on the Eleventh night and we’ll be here to celebrate our culture, not defend it. And you are all welcome to attend.”

(Image: Justin Kernoghan/Photopress)

The Orange Order’s Mervyn Gibson said that he felt an “injustice was being done” and also appealed for calm.

He added: “This decision is wrong on so many levels and I believe there’s still an opportunity for people to do the right thing.

(Image: Photopress)

“The bonfire builders here did the right thing and removed the tyres. Let the council at this late stage, still do the right thing and call off their plans to remove the wood at this bonfire.

“What should our reaction be to it? Well I have to say I’m going to appeal to be calm. I’ve no problem in doing that. Too often I’ve seen over this last 20 years here in East Belfast, our young lads getting a criminal record.. young lads and lassies going to jail for what they stood up for and what they believed.”

Jamie Bryson insisted that it posed “no risk to life” and “no risk to property”.

He added: “The people who have built it have done everything asked of them to ensure that it will be peaceful and it will be a positive celebration of culture. There is no need to move into this bonfire.”

Nationalists insisted the bonfire was on Council property and the issues with it go beyond tyres.

(Image: Justin Kernoghan/Photopress)

Police chiefs are understood to be finalising plans for how they will handle the situation when contractors move in. The police presence at London Road, in the Ravenhill Road area, on Sunday when tyres were removed from another bonfire was low-key with officers in short sleeves.

During previous similar incidents TSG officers have been deployed.

Earlier the East Belfast Cultural Collective insisted “loyalists” do not want any confrontation with police.

Unionist councillors George Dorrian, John Kyle and Jim Rodgers said they were “disappointed the committee chose not to build on the progress made by bonfire builders when they removed the tyres”.

But Sinn Fein councillor Deirdre Hargey said: “As a council and public authority on which this bonfire is situated on our land we have to react to that for the public interest.”

How to follow us on social media Here's our main Belfast Live Facebook page. On Twitter, you can follow our account by clicking here. If you're a lover of photos, then check out our Instagram. We've also got dedicated Facebook pages for North, South, East and West Belfast, as well as courts and crime. Sports fans can find all the latest local action over on our Belfast Live Sport Facebook and Twitter and also on Match Online on both Facebook and Twitter.

Keep up-to-date with all the very latest news, what's on, sport and everything else in Belfast and beyond with the Belfast Live app.

Only select news that interests you by picking the topics you want to display on the app's homepage. Plus, our enhanced user experience includes live blogs, video, interactive maps and slick picture galleries. Download it now and get involved.

Click here to get it from the App Store or here for Google Play .