Hall attacks condemned
Wednesday, 5 November 2008
Orange Grand Master Robert Saulter surveys the arson-attacked Ballinderry Hall at Coagh. Inset, the damaged door of Mulnagore Orange Hall, Pomeroy. dd4563
THE CHAIRMAN of Cookstown District Council, Cllr Trevor Wilson condemned weekend attacks on two local Orange halls as "attacks on Protestant culture" that "do nothing to enhance and promote peace".
Cllr Wilson's comments come after two Orange Halls in the Mid-Ulster area were vandalised over the weekend.
In one attack, the front door of Ballinderry Orange Hall, near Coagh, was forced open early on Sunday and a fire set inside.
In the second attack, chainsaws were used to cut through the door of an Orange Hall in Mulnagore, outside Pomeroy.
The hall at Ballinderry on the Bridge Road was set alight causing significant damage to the interior and fixtures. The roof tiles were also melted in the incident.
According to the Police, the fire had burnt itself out before the damage was discovered.
Worshipful Master of Ballinderry William Jeffers said that the damage caused to the hall would amount to thousands of pounds but he said luckily no memorabilia was damaged.
The Worshipful Master told the Courier: "Thankfully all the valuable items belonging to the hall were removed back in July including the valuable pictures we have, which date back over a hundred years."
He added that the hall at Ballinderry had not been attacked before, however a flag was removed from its flagpole in July.
Local Councillors were united to condemn the attacks.
SDLP Mid-Ulster Assembly Member Patsy McGlone said attacks on community facilities needed to be "stamped out".
He told the Courier: "This is absolutely disgraceful behaviour and those responsible for damaging the Orange Halls in Coagh and Mulnagore do not represent anyone. Their reckless actions will be widely condemned by all right thinking people."
DUP Mid-Ulster MLA Ian McCrea stated: "I believe that cowardly dissident Republicans were responsible and once again attacking Protestant property has been the subject of their cowardly and pathetic campaign of ethnic cleansing.
“It seems that the mindset of dissident Republicans is through attacking Orange Halls and other Protestant property, that they will drive the Protestant people out of Mid-Ulster. But how foolish they are for the resolve of the Protestant and unionist people will not be broken.
“Just as our forefathers stood firm in their day, our motto is still 'No Surrender' and attacks on our property will not diminish that, but rather unite us in defence of our faith and heritage."
Mid-Ulster MLA Billy Armstrong stated: "As I have said for some time now, it is quite clear that there is an undercurrent within the republican community which is hell-bent on attacking the symbols of the local Protestant community or anything which they regard as symbolic of British culture and identity.
“This same type of bitterness and intolerance of anything British was also evident on the streets of Belfast at the homecoming parade for our soldiers from both Northern Ireland and the Republic who have returned from Afghanistan.
“The vast majority of people in Mid-Ulster and the rest of Northern Ireland have demonstrated that they wish to live in peace with their neighbours, whatever their creed or colour, but there are obviously some who wish to drag us back from the bad old days from which we struggled for so long to emerge."
Grand Secretary Drew Nelson, visited the hall in Ballinderry on Monday and called for no retaliation.
He told the Courier: "I would appeal for two things. First of all, that anyone who knows anything about this would come forward to give information to the Police and secondly that there would be absolutely no retaliation."
Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness condemned the attack saying that such "cultural vandalism" has no place in communities.
Added the Sinn Fein MLA: "It is my understanding that the folk in Ballinderry have very strong cross community relationships and indeed have been working together to raise funds to build new facilities in each others church buildings.
“How ironic is it therefore for someone then to seek to destroy this hall which is an integral part of that community."
