Craigyhill bonfire builders claim new world record as they stress safety is a priority

The builders of a popular bonfire in Larne are celebrating after reaching a new world record height - but have insisted that health and safety is of utmost importance.

Hundreds of bonfires will be lit in unionist communities across Northern Ireland on July 11 ahead of the biggest day of the parading season.

Back in 2022, the Craigyhill bonfire reached a height of more than 202 ft, beating the previous world record attempt of 198 ft set in Austria in March 2019. However, this accomplishment wasn't officially recognised by Guinness World Records as they were unable to pay the costs associated with their adjudication.

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This year, after two separate measurements were taken by two different survey firms, it has been confirmed that the Craigyhill bonfire stands at just over 205 ft, becoming the world's tallest. The bonfire team will now send the results to the Guinness World Records after getting all documents and scans signed and witnessed by two members in authority for verification.

The local community is now counting down the hours until the structure is set alight at midnight, with a party atmosphere in the air as excitement builds for a range of events including the children's bonfire - due to be lit at 10pm - performances from DJs, amusements for children, and food trucks lining the roads.

Speaking to Belfast Live, David from the Craigyhill Bonfire Committee said the group have made a lot of effort over the past few years to move the celebrations around bonfires forward, to make the July 11 and 12 celebrations a more inclusive event by removing flags, emblems and imagery that could cause offence.

David also stressed that the builders have been engaging with the Fire Service and police in order to ensure the event runs smoothly and that the safety of everyone associated with the bonfire's creation is the number one priority.

On July 10, the team hired a crane for a few hours to help put some finishing safety touches to the Craigyhill bonfire, after strong winds and heavy rain impacted the beacon at the top of the structure.

David said: "I think all the bonfires in Northern Ireland got a battering this week with the strong winds and rain, I've been seeing pictures and they're all starting to learn over because of the weather. We have a crane out today as our beacon tilted over a wee bit.

"We brought the crane down as a safety precaution, the fuel is on board up at the very top. It's important to make these checks for public safety as if that were to fall, fuel would be going everywhere. I don't think it would fall, but we don't want to take any chances at all, we want it to be 100% safe."

He said people have been travelling from across Northern Ireland to help build the bonfire over the past two months, and organise the family fun-day that will coincide with the Eleventh Night.

"Everyone's starting to get excited for it now, people are starting to come out and watch the finishing touches put together," David added.

"Everything is getting set up, we have amusements for the kids, we have a top DJ over from England, Lisa Lashes, and she'll be playing on Thursday night with Marco V. We've put a lot of money into this to entertain the people, and there will be fireworks going as well.

"I expect there will be about 40,000 to 50,000 people here, and there's people coming from all different countries. We've had people here from New Zealand, Australia, and Canada. It's drawn a lot of attention."

Earlier this week, the Craigyhill bonfire hit the headlines after local daredevil Stephen Maginnis was videoed BASE jumping from the top. This stunt was the culmination of five years planning, with Stephen telling Belfast Live it was an "incredible feeling" to be able to do it.

David said it took a lot of preparation but that it was "wee peanuts" for the professional BASE jumper. He said: "Stephen has been in contact with me for a few years, he first got in touch five years ago and he put the idea to us. We were quite concerned about the safety aspects of it, so he was coming back every year to check it out.

"He waited until we got to the world record height, so he approached me a few days ago and as soon as we got down on the last day, he was waiting for me. He grabbed me just after we put the beacon on.

"We had a wee discussion and went through the safety aspects of it and what it was going to entail, what he was going to put in for his safety and how he was going to secure himself with climbing up as well.

"He was down here for days prepping for it, and we wanted to keep it a secret. The crowd started gathering once people saw him going up to do it, and we knew once he jumped off it was going to hit the headlines. He actually put it to us about doing it for charity, and now there's around £3,000 donated.

"Stephen had another guy with him who was helping him with safety. That height is wee peanuts for him, he's jumped off things at 5,000 ft. He pulls off hard jumps, but there was a lot of thought that went into the planning of this."

David spoke out against some of the negative attention the stunt initially received. He said: "People don't put things into perspective. I think people try to turn everything political because it's a bonfire.

"These guys jump off bridges and cranes, and there's never a dicky bird said. But because it's a bonfire it's like 'woah' and that's the thing that annoys us quite a lot, health and safety is the most important thing for us here."

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