Last weekend in Ireland visiting family for me before I go back to Asia so it’ll be a quiet one I think.
Tonight is Bonfire night in the nationalist/republican areas of Northern Ireland, these days it’s not as big a tradition as it was when I was a kid when we’d collect wood all summer and fight with other estates over their wood lol these days most estates have street parties instead of fires. However the hardline republican areas in Derry (my city) such as the Bogside and Creggan (my estate) estates still have fires… the bogsides one this year is the biggest I’ve seen a nationalist/republican area do in over a decade.
The big bonfires these days are usually done by the unionists/loyalist areas around the 12th of July.
It’s a bit of an insane tradition on both sides that they justify with different reasons. You’ll see each side burning the flags of the others side… for example tonight’s fires in the republican areas will have union jacks, paratroop regiment flags, orange order flags, loyalist paramilitary gang flags, Isreal flags etc and on the 12th the loyalists will have the Irish flag, republican paramilitary gang flags and other things related to catholics and republicans on theirs.
Years ago I would have been there but I avoid them now especially with kids.
Here is a video of tonight’s in the Bogside: