TEAMS from a Co Tyrone GAA club could be forced to play matches away from home following an arson attack.
A window was broken and flammable liquid poured inside the Moy Tír na nÓg clubhouse on Benburb Road sometime between 10.30pm on Saturday night and 8.30am on Sunday morning.
The blaze caused extensive smoke damage, in particular to the ground floor of the club, which fields 15 teams across a range of age groups.
Old photos and club memorabilia were also destroyed.
The Moy club has also produced a number of Tyrone senior footballers, including Philip Jordan and current captain Sean Cavanagh.
An U-16 game scheduled for yesterday morning went ahead as normal, but secretary Mary Daly told The Irish News she believes club activities may have to take place elsewhere until the damage is assessed and repaired.
She said: "We have yet to assess all the practicalities of it but we may have to play matches away from home. Even having a committee meeting will be difficult."
"There is extensive damage on the ground floor. The whole place is completely smoke damaged."
Ms Daly added: "There is a complete sense of shock. We don’t know why the club has been targeted. We have never had any trouble or bother before."
The attack comes a week after vandalism at another GAA club in Co Tyrone, when a UVF slogan was burned into a pitch in Augher.
A possible motive for the fire remains unclear, but a Sinn Féin MLA has said she believes it is sectarian.
Bronwyn McGahan said: "The arson attacks on the Tír na nÓg GAA club in Moy is a worrying development given a recent similar attack on a club in Augher."
"The GAA has provided a great service to the entire community through the promotion of sport and culture especially in rural communities."
She added: "I am calling on unionist leaders to stand shoulder to shoulder with my party in condemnation of these attacks on GAA clubs. There can be no place for sectarianism in our society."
Dungannon independent councillor Barry Monteith said that the incident was "an attack on the whole community."
He said: "The club is going to be out a lot of money and the people of Moy are left to pick up the pieces here."
"It is sad and despicable that people would attack the GAA in this way in this day and age."
