THE family of a man who died after falling from a bonfire in Larne last year are to sue Mid and East Antrim Borough Council, a report into the tragedy suggests.
The Belfast Telegraph reports this week that the move by the relatives of John Steele could be the catalyst for the long-awaited and much-needed regulation of bonfires to get under way.
If January seems an odd time to bring up the subject of bonfires, the truth is that any normal society would have begun a robust and realistic reflection on the horrific dangers posed to bonfire builders and watchers the minute the death of Mr Steele was reported. The fact that the issue is now back in the headlines seven months later because of a technical review of the incident tells us all we need to know about the shameful lack of priority that is placed on this subject – thanks to the insistence of a vast majority of unionist elected representatives that this annual madness is traditional or cultural.
Putting children up chimneys was traditional until it was decided that was wrong. Having Orange parades in factories was cultural until it was decided that was wrong. The fact is that while culture is constantly changing and adapting, the issue of parading and bonfires remains pickled in mid-20th century ideas of Protestand and unionist supremacy and untouchability.
You don’t have to be a lawyer to understand that Mid and East Antrim Borough Council face a nightmare if and when legal proceedings begin. The Council insists – as does every other Council – on the most stringent of health and safety measures when it comes to issues of building, planning, workplaces and staff. But the Council completely abandoned its responsibility for its own land to allow it to be turned into a health and safety Wild West, ignoring its statutory responsibility in relation to its remit and its ratepayers. If and when that matter ends up being considered in a court of law, all we can say is that the Council better hope that it has legal counsel with the wisdom of Solomon.
A towering and inherently stable structure on Council land that was reported as being up to 100ft was accessed with zero official oversight by anyone who took a fancy to climbing it – whether that be the man in his 30s who died, or bored children off school for the summer. That is a shocking enough thing to have happened in isolation, but it is a scene replicated in unionist-controlled Councils right across the North.
Those Councils and those unionist reps who so shockingly crossed their fingers and hoped for the best for so long were clearly not moved to action by the tragedy of John Steele; let us hope that that the prospect of legal action and potential surcharges will now focus their minds.
The bonfire collectors will be out within weeks. If the statutory agencies – Councils, the Housing Executive, relevant Stormont departments and the police – are serious about avoiding a repeat of last year’s tragedy their work, which should have begun last July, should get under way now.
