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Call to SF over attacks on Orange Hall

Two separate attacks on Rasharkin Orange Hall are an attempt to stir up tensions in the local community ahead of a parade through the Co Antrim village, it has been claimed.

Pink paint was daubed along the front of the building on Friday night. Then in the early hours of yesterday, republican slogans were scrawled using black aerosol on the outside of the hall.

The same hall has been the target of numerous attacks in recent years including an incident last month during which a petol bomb was hurled at the building.

North Antrim DUP MLA Mervyn Storey said he believed the attacks on the hall were an attempt to stir up tensions in the local community ahead of this year’s Independent Orange Order parade through Rasharkin on July 12.

“The perpetrators of these attacks do not represent the majority of people in the village.

“These people are not going to succeed in driving unionists from Rasharkin,” he said.

Mr Storey added: “I would call on Sinn Fein to be pro-active, to lead by example and take a stand against this behaviour.”

Last month a resident who had lived in Rasharkin for nearly 30 years said he would be moving from the village after claiming his family had been the subject of sectarian intimidation for over a decade.

Chris McCaughan blamed a “republican element” in Rasharkin for targeting his family simply because they are Protestants.

The Rasharkin home of Sinn Fein MLA and Policing Board member Daithi McKay was attacked around the same time as Mr McCaughan spoke out after he strongly condemned those behind such anti-social behaviour in the village.

A PSNI spokesman appealed for anyone with information regarding yesterday’s incident to contact police at Ballymoney on 0845 600 8000.

Belfast Telegraph

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