Bid to burn out Rasharkin protestant
A PROTESTANT man whose car was torched in a sectarian attack in Rasharkin has said his attackers will not stop until he leaves his home.
The victim, who does not wish to be named, was alerted by his dog’s barking to the danger posed by the burning vehicle in the early hours of Wednesday morning.
“The car was parked up close to the back door – if the car had exploded then the house would have went up in flames,” he said.
The troubled north Antrim village, which has been plagued by a catalogue of sectarian attacks in recent years, is being terrorised by dissident republican elements, according to the victim.
“I have been attacked before, along with my brother, by this same gang.
“Protestant families have had to leave the village over the last few years, and they won’t stop until I have to leave.”
Ballymoney mayor, John Finlay, described it as “a blatant sectarian attack to drive a Protestant resident out of Rasharkin”.
“Over the last number of years the Protestant community in Rasharkin has been dwindling as a result of this republican intimidation. This kind of intimidation needs to stop immediately,” the DUP representative said.
A police spokesman said a sectarian motive was one line of inquiry which they were pursuing in their investigation.
Meanwhile, TUV leader Jim Allister has voiced his condemnation of republican graffiti sprayed on a recently-renovated Orange Hall in nearby Dunloy.
“It’s still the same intolerant belligerence which shapes the republican mind,” the North Antrim MLA said.
