Two Stormont ministers have failed in a legal bid to force police in Northern Ireland to assist in removing a contentious loyalist bonfire.
Sinn Fein Communities Minister Deirdre Hargey and SDLP Infrastructure Minister Nichola Mallon took proceedings against the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) over its decision not to intervene on the bonfire in the loyalist area of Tiger’s Bay in north Belfast.
The police declined to offer protection to removal contractors, citing concerns that their intervention could lead to disorder.
The ministers’ bid to compel the police to act failed at emergency High Court proceedings on Friday.