Hall arsonists ‘will not break Orange spirit’

Arsonists behind an overnight attack on a Co Armagh Orange hall are mistaken if they think they can break the will or the spirit of the community living there, the local MP has said.

David Simpson made the comment yesterday after visiting the scene at Kilmore Orange Hall, outside Lurgan, which has now been targeted by vandals for a fourth time.

CCTV equipment at the hall was disabled before roof tiles were removed and a flammable liquid poured inside the building and set alight, police said.

The main section of the building escaped the worst of the blaze, although the entrance was left extensively damaged.

The fire was reported shortly before 8arn yesterday.

The hall is used by the local Orange lodge and Royal Black Preceptory, plus a band, youth club and community groups.

Trustee Trevor McShane said the repair bill will run into thousands and that lodge members feel "down-hearted" about the attack.

But in an appeal for no retaliation he said: "An eye for an eye and we will all end up blind.

"As far as we are concerned, we want to try and reinstate the hall because this is our community hall and we need it."

Upper Bann DUP MLA Mr Simpson said the attack must be "utterly condemned".

He said that this part of Co Armagh was a "small unionist enclave" but that people living there had good relationships with each other - and it was, in fact, a local person who had raised the alarm after noticing the flames yesterday morning.

"We have seen over the past number of weeks a number of these kind of attacks on halls and churches - the people who carry these out do not represent anyone," said Mr Simpson.

"1 don't know where these people come from nor what their political ideologies are, but at the end of the day the hall will be replaced.

"Ultimately, it will be fixed up into a better condition than what it was previously."

Mr Simpson added that those behind the attack "are not achieving anything".

The Grand Orange Lodge of Ireland also condemned the attack on the hall, which was destroyed in an arson attack in 1991 and again in July 2006.

It was rebuilt on both occasions and extra security measures were installed to protect the building.

A spokesman for the Grand Lodge said: "This is yet another attack on Protestant culture and our way of life.

"We call upon anyone with the slightest piece of information to contact the police and help them find the culprits.

"Someone must know who is carrying out these attacks on our premises across Northern Ireland.

"They have a moral responsibility to pass on that information to the police."

The PSNI has appealed for anyone with information to come forward. 31th July 2009 News Letter

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