Adam Street bonfire: Jamie Bryson says Irish government must ‘take responsibility for anti-unionist hatred’ citing Protocol as factor

The PSNI have already released a statement saying an individual was cautioned; this and other details (including the history of the bonfire dispute here, can be found at this link).

Mr Bryson said: “I visited Tiger’s Bay tonight after the Adam Street cultural expression site had come under nationalist attack.

“This was a disgraceful sectarian hate crime and another manifestation of the intolerance towards any expression of unionist culture or identity.

“On this occasion the PSNI acted swiftly and to their credit dispersed the mob. However nationalist politicians, and especially the Irish Government, must take some responsibility for the hatred they have whipped up against unionist culture and identity, most notably by their effort to turn unionists into second class citizens via the Protocol.

“I would appeal to all young loyalists not to be drawn into deliberate efforts to spark contentious flash points as a means of continuing the long-running cultural war against the PUL community.

“The agitation is deliberate and it is orchestrated, and loyalism should be alert to that.

“The nationalist ministers failed last year at Adam Street and before that the Sinn Fein, SDLP and Alliance coalition on Belfast City Council failed at Avoneil because loyalists did not react violently, but rather used the law to thwart the attempts to target our culture.”

The reference to Avoneil concerns this story from 2019.

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