“Anyone involved in producing or selling this should be ashamed,” he said
An SDLP councillor has hit out after a badge depicting the controversial Moygashel Bonfire with effigies of asylum seekers in a boat on top of flames has gone on sale.
Last year, the bonfire made headlines globally after a boat with a number of mannequins wearing life jackets was placed at the top and set alight, in an apparent reference to refugees who cross the English Channel from France to reach the UK.
It also featured banners reading “stop the boats”, “veterans before refugees”, and “stop illegal immigration”.
Cllr Malachy Quinn said: “I’ve been made aware of this badge, and let’s be absolutely clear: this is hate being packaged and sold for profit.
“There is nothing cultural, nothing defensible, and nothing acceptable about it. It is deliberately divisive, inflammatory, and designed to target vulnerable people.
“Anyone involved in producing or selling this should be ashamed. Our community is better than this. Call it out. Report it. Refuse to fund it.”
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