Attacks not treated ‘seriously’
The police are not doing enough to stop attacks on Orange halls, the Grand Secretary of the Orange Order has said.
Three halls were attacked at the weekend. Six bottles of paint were smashed against the front of Clifton Street Hall in north Belfast.
It is believed a tractor was used to damage halls in Rasharkin and Ballymoney on Friday night.
“The police are not treating these attacks seriously enough, they are not devoting enough resources to them.”
“In the past few years we’ve had just over 300 halls that have been subject to arson attacks,” said Drew Nelson.
“For all of those attacks, I think there have only been six convictions.”
Damage
Police are investigating a possible link between the attacks on the County Antrim Orange halls.
The door at Tullaghans Orange Hall on Bravallan Road in Ballymoney was forced opened.
Drums and furniture inside the building were also damaged in the incident which was reported at 1710 BST on Saturday.
Police said it may be linked to another attack in which a tractor was used to knock down a wall outside Granagh Independent Orange Hall in Rasharkin.
The front door of the building on Mullan Road was also damaged in that incident which was discovered on Saturday morning.
