Placing of picture of Taoiseach on loyalist bonfire investigated by police as hate crime

A pyre with a boat on top, with a picture of Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and a banner that reads ‘Good Friday Agreement? That ship has sailed’, in Moygashel near Dungannon, Co Tyrone (Niall Carson/PA)

Police are investigating the placing of an Irish flag and a picture of Taoiseach Leo Varadkar on a loyalist bonfire in Co Tyrone as a “hate crime”.

The towering pyre in Moygashel, themed as an anti-Northern Ireland Protocol bonfire, attracted attention online after a boat was placed on the top of it.