Common sense call over bonfire builds

His comments came at last week’s Mid & East Antrim Council’s Operational Committee meeting in Carrick in response to an update on the health impacts of burning tyres on bonfires.

As part of the report, it was suggested that elected members use their influence to reduce the amount of tyres burnt at bonfire sites.

However, Councillor Stephen Nicholl said: “Nobody is going to have any influence on the boys putting stuff on the bonfires.

“We need to engage with the community who are not involved with bonfires; talking to young people is not going to make a difference, but if we talk to the mothers and grandmothers - these people can bring pressure to bear on their own children,” he said.

Cllr Beth Adger said: “Where are they getting these tyres from? We should be talking to parents and grandparents on these estates and getting them to take the numbers of lorries or anybody dumping a big load of tyres.”

Cllr Tommy Nicholl added: “We need to get the message across that we are not stopping bonfires but asking people to show a bit of common sense. I wouldn’t like to think that we’d issue a statement and get people’s backs up; we are trying to work with them.”