Craigyhill Bonfire Larne: Height of mammoth Northern Ireland pyre to be recorded in feet in coming days before crane arrives to help it 'into the clouds'

As the latest pictures of the pyre show its impressive height, a message on the Craigyhill bonfire and cultural page says: “So finished up for the night, it’s a long day when u leave for work at 6.45am and come straight home and come up here till 9.15pm , we have all done this now for 6 full weeks and into the 7th.

"We are fast approaching the furthest we can go now until the crane arrives on Saturday.. we will probably finish up on Wednesday night after another platform is put in so we have starting getting the inside ready making it as flat as possible in the middle .

"We are 173 high (pallets) and we will take some measurements with a laser tomorrow or Wednesday night as we measure in feet not pallets, all pallets are different thicknesses. Blue and red being the thickest ones giving a lot more height .

"But onwards and upwards”.

Another message on the page says this weekend will see the arrival of the crane.

The post on the Craigyhill bonfire and cultural page says: “So this will be the 1st weekend of the crane arriving to get this bonfire to the clouds .

"Bongo the clown will be making an appearance at 12pm so bring all the family and get a few laughs and entertainment.

"Plus our pop up stall with all the bonfire merchandise like flags , badges , glass tumblers , pens , air fresheners, glow in dark bangles , scarves, bucket hats and beanie hats plus much more .

"Going to be a busy weekend so come on down with the kids and let them have some fun with Mr bongo .”

News spelling the end of bonfire building comes after a member of the bonfire committee said, in a major change to the past, “there are five or six nationalists helping with the bonfire and at least one on the committee”.

"A number of Catholic’s helped over the years – this is common knowledge around here,” he added.

“So that is how we have moved the bonfire on. It is still part of our tradition and flute bands still play, but we don’t want or have any sectarian shouting or that nonsense.

“Over the last three years we changed to more of a cultural thing, and that is when the crowds have obviously came.

"We did used to burn the tricolour. We are not going to say we didn’t, but then it changed when there were Catholics helping and on the committee.

“When it was changed from what it was to a cultural thing, the crowds went from being 8,000 back then to 40,000 last year. And 30,000 the year before, so people seem to like it.

“Going by comments online you see that some people don’t want to see change from the past. But they are in the minority now.

“There has been no trouble at our bonfire for the last 2-3 years, because people are really coming to have a good time.”

Earlier Craigyhill Bonfire Committee member ‘David’, told the News Letter that “around 30 to 40 people have been working on the bonfire every night, although that number does drop at times”.

"It really is a community event and needs community spirit to keep it going,” he said.

"There are only certain builders we let go up to the top and they have to be given harnesses for safety.

"We get a lot of flak online about the palettes that are used – I can tell them that they are bought and paid for and I could show them the receipts.

"We do a lot of fundraising for this event, which actually starts a few weeks after July 12 each year. We do not get any funding so the committee runs a local lottery to put this on.

“The public do not see the amount of work that goes in."

He added that putting up the bonfire and paying for entertainment on July 11/12 “costs around £60,000”.

“Getting the big DJ’s to come over and perform costs thousands,” he added.

"They will only perform on a proper stage with the right lighting. We have to deal with their management teams to get them here.

"And we must have bought and paid for around 20,000 screws to put in the bonfire, to keep it secure.

"This is now our fourth week building it up and everyone id getting tired so we need to give them time off.

"This is the last year we are doing a big bonfire – next year it will be rescaled because there is too much work in it and getting scaffolding and everything for health and safety.

"We really put on a free show, but I know how great it is for the community – and how it is something they look forward to.”

When asked about paramilitary involvement in the organisation of the bonfire, David claimed, “there is none”.

"No flags go on the bonfire,” he added.

"We had a crowd recently here from Dublin because they had read about it on social media.

"And this year again it is confirmed that Rangers TV will be doing another live stream from the event.

“We also had a German TV station here the other day.”

He added that they now have 31,000 followers on Craigyhill bonfire and cultural page where people keep “a close eye on”.