Moygashel, a village in county Tyrone, owes its name to a corruption of Maigh gCaisil, which translates as “plain of the stone fort.” It is the sort of place Karl Marx had in mind when he referred to the idiocy of rural life, and he had probably never even heard about it.

Even by the standards of Ulster loyalism, it has earned itself a reputation as one of the most sectarian, hate-filled lumpen ghettoes to be found in the six counties. Having won itself a certain notoriety last year by topping its bonfire with an effigy of migrants in a boat which was then incinerated to delirious cheering, the organisers gave considerable thought to how they could top that.

They have decided that for 2026 there is no better way to mark the 18^th century victory of a bisexual, alcoholic Dutch king who was supported by the Pope than to top their bonfire with a replica mosque.

See if you can make any sense of their justification which you can read in full here: “It is important to note that our cultural expression- the traditional burning of our bonfire- is a distinct concept from our now traditional act of political protest.” They conclude it by saying “Everyone is welcome to our bonfire, and we look forward to it.” Take it from someone with knowledge of the local culture, white people with names like Aoife or Seamus would not go anywhere near it and anyone with a darker skin, particularly with names like Halima or Ahmed would be well advised to stay away, especially when the cider and cocaine start flowing.

Some unionists understand how bad this looks. Ulster Unionist Party Leader, Jon Burrows says “There can be no place for placing any place of worship on a bonfire and setting it alight. It is simply wrong.” For him it is more a presentational issue as it is “playing into the hands of critics of unionist and loyalist culture.”

It is much more accurate to say that this is a genuine and widely supported expression of loyalist culture. In previous years they burned things stolen from Catholic churches, images of priests, Republican and nationalist politicians because the whole point of the display is to express hatred of difference. Now, because that sort of explicit anti-Catholic stunt can stop bonfires getting government money, they are far fewer and the focus has changed. As we saw with the recent anti-migrant pogroms in the six counties, Irish loyalism is at the extreme right of the European political spectrum.

People Before Profit are a bit closer to the mark when they say “It is an act of Islamophobic intimidation designed to terrorise our Muslim and migrant neighbours” before retreating into platitudes about racism and sectarianism being “manufactured from above” to prevent working class unity. That rather passes the buck. Racism, sectarianism, and increasingly white supremacism, are the essential elements of loyalism.

It is not a culture. It is a political ideology and we should be grateful for the pallet collecting pyromaniacs of Moygashel and places like it for making clear exactly what its politics are.