Police probe racist Sinclair banner on Belfast Bonfire

Police probe racist Sinclair banner on Belfast Bonfire

Police are investigating a racist banner targeting Celtic footballer Scott Sinclair on a bonfire in Belfast as part of Eleventh Night celebrations.

A banner on a bonfire in the car park of a leisure centre in East Belfast read: 'Scott Sinclair loves bananas'.

Huge bonfires are being lit in Protestant areas across Northern Ireland to usher in the main fixture in the loyal order marching season. 

The towering bonfires, most built with stacks of wooden pallets, has drawn thousands of onlookers. Homes have been boarded up at a number of sites amid concerns around safety and risk to property. 

The racist banner was erected ahead of tonight's celebration, which sees members of the Loyalist community in Northern Ireland li ght bonfires to ring in the Twelfth of July - when they mark the anniversary of King William of Orange's victory over Catholic King James II at the Battle of the Boyne in 1690. 

Bonfires are often decorated with Irish flags and other symbols of Republicanism on the Emerald Isle.

A spokesman for the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) said they were investigating the banner against Sinclair, who joined the Scottish football club last year, after complaints were made to the force.

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A banner on a bonfire in the car park of a leisure centre in East Belfast read: 'Scott Sinclair loves bananas'

A spokesman for the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) said they were investigating the banner against Sinclair, who joined the Scottish football club last year, after complaints were made to the force

Firefighters douse nearby buildings as a bonfire is lit in Albertbridge Road, Belfast ahead of the key date in the Protestant Loyalist marching season

A black coffin adorned with the face of the late Sinn Fein deputy first minister Martin McGuinness has been attached to a bonfire off the Castlereagh Road in East Belfast

Firefighters tackles flames near a lit bonfire on Albertbridge Road in Belfast ahead of the Twelfth of July celebrations

Firefighters were seen dousing building near a lit bonfire on Albertbridge Road in Belfast to make the flames didn't spread

Irish tricolours, posters of Sinn Fein members and an ISIS flag are put up to burn on a Shankhill Road bonfire pyre in Belfast

He said: 'Where police are aware of a crime being committed, an investigation will follow.

'We take hate crime very seriously and actively investigate all incidents reported to us.

'Hate crime is wrong on all levels and the PSNI will do everything it can to ensure that everyone, from whatever background, can live free from prejudice, fear and discrimination.' 

Firefighters were seen dousing building near a lit bonfire on Albertbridge Road in Belfast to make the flames didn't spread. 

A black coffin adorned with the face of the late Sinn Fein deputy first minister Martin McGuinness has been attached to a bonfire off the Castlereagh Road in East Belfast. 

Posters of other Sinn Fein figures were put up to burn alongside ISIS flags, tricolours and Celtic banners - including one which celebrated the Glasgow club's Lisbon Lions - the team who won the European Cup in 1967.

Sinn Fein's Stormont leader Michelle O'Neill called for an end to what she described as an 'annual display of hate'.

She said: 'Once again, we have witnessed bonfires across the North being festooned with stolen Sinn Fein election posters, Irish national flags and other emblems.

'The theft and burning of posters from any party as well as flags, effigies and other symbols is not culture, it is a hate crime.

Huge bonfires are being lit in Protestant areas across Northern Ireland to usher in the main fixture in the loyal order marching season

The towering bonfires, most built with stacks of wooden pallets, has drawn thousands of onlookers

People watch the Sandy Row bonfire pyre being built ahead of the Twelfth of July celebrations held by members of Loyalists

Posters of other Sinn Fein figures were put up to burn alongside ISIS flags, tricolours and Celtic banners - including one which celebrated the Glasgow club's Lisbon Lions - the team who won the European Cup in 1967

Sinn Fein's Stormont leader Michelle O'Neill called for an end to what she described as an 'annual display of hate'

An Islamic State flag is affixed to a bonfire pyre on the Sandy Row as Loyalists prepare for Eleventh Night celebrations

'I have written to the PSNI Chief Constable (George Hamilton) and told him it should be treated as such by the PSNI and appropriate steps taken.

'There is also a responsibility on unionist political parties and the loyal orders to show some leadership on this issue and end this annual display of hate once and for all.'

Democratic Unionist leader Arlene Foster claimed there was a campaign to 'demonise' the bonfires.

'Bonfires on the Eleventh Night have long been part of the unionist culture,' she said.

'Those who have waged a campaign of demonisation against such celebrations should dial down the rhetoric. To those who build bonfires, I urge them to not play into t he hands of those who want to demonise the culture. They should be respectful of their neighbours. 

'Endangering property and lives should not be a concern for residents on the Eleventh Night. These should be events that all the family can enjoy. We will work constructively with communities to achieve this.'

Democratic Unionist leader Arlene Foster claimed there was a campaign to 'demonise' the bonfires

Fireproof cladding is affixed to the motorway signs beside a bonfire pyre ahead of the Twelfth of July celebrations in Belfast

People take pictures of a Shankill Road bonfire pyre with the Peace Wall behind it, ahead of the Twelfth of July celebrations

Mrs Foster said she wants Northern Ireland to move forward to a place where the Orange culture is supported and respected by all.

'I do not want any culture to threaten or dominate any other,' she said.

'A shared society in Northern Ireland must have room for all but without elevating or promoting one section of society above another.

'Despite the image sometimes portrayed, it is not politics that dominates the Twelfth July, however. It is the families who come together as they have done for generations. It is the acquaintances that are refreshed in the field or on the street. It is the celebration of civil and religious liberty and the centrality of faith to the Orange Institution which are far more important.

'I would hope that everyone will enjoy the Twelfth celebrations, both those who do so every year, and perhaps others who will explore this part of our culture and heritage for the first time.

'Hopefully we can all help build a Northern Ireland where there is respect, tolerance and support for all our cultures and traditions, celebrated equally with one another.'

Members of the Loyalist community in Northern Ireland light bonfires to see in July 12 - when they mark the anniversary of King William of Orange's victory at the Battle of the Boyne in 1690

One of the biggest bonfires ignited prematurely, with firefighters working through the early hours of Tuesday to extinguish the blaze in Carrickfergus.

While the vast majority of the almost 600 Protestant loyal order parades on the Twelfth are free of trouble each year, the threat of disorder at a small number of flashpoints always has the potential to mar the day.

There is cautious optimism this year's Twelfth will pass off without major incident.

Orangemen and nationalist residents at the most contentious parade - at Woodvale/Ardoyne in north Belfast - have struck a deal that aims to reduce tensions in the area on Wednesday.< /p>

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