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Orange hall targeted in Co Antrim graffiti attack

Graffiti scrawled on the walls of an orange hall in Rasharkin, Co Antrim
Graffiti scrawled on the walls of an orange hall in Rasharkin, Co Antrim Graffiti scrawled on the walls of an orange hall in Rasharkin, Co Antrim

A PAINT bomb attack on an Orange hall in Co Antrim has been described as a "hate crime".

Republican slogans were scrawled across an Orange Hall at Main Street in Rasharkin some time overnight on Saturday.

The graffiti included the letters ‘IRA’.

The incident took place just days after an Orange hall was damaged in a suspected arson attack at Ballytyrone near Loughgall in Co Armagh.

Rasharkin has been at the centre of a bitter parades dispute over recent years with nationalists opposed to loyalist parades passing through the village.

The Orange Order also said that spouting at an Orange hall in Belleek in south Armagh was also damaged at the weekend.

Causeway Coast and Glens DUP councillor John Finlay condemned the latest attack.

“It seems there are those that are so full of hatred that they cannot leave anything Protestant alone,” he said.

“The police need to do all that they can to apprehend those responsible. I will be speaking to them about this matter.”

The DUP politician, who has failed to call for a Union flag hoisted in the grounds of a Catholic church in nearby Dervock to be removed, added: “Its time people accepted the right for Orange culture to exist and grow in Rasharkin”.

The PSNI say they are investigating the graffiti attack.

Supt John Magill said the incident was being treated as a hate crime.

"I would ask anyone who noticed any unusual activity in the area or who has any information to contact police," he said.