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The Orange Order has met the Chief Constable and the Secretary
of State to discuss the recent spate of attacks on Orange
Halls.
A delegation of Grand Lodge officers went to Police Headquarters
at Knock this morning, to meet Sir Hugh Orde, his deputy Paul
Leighton, and assistant chief constables Roy Toner and Duncan
McCausland.
The Orange delegation was Robert Saulters, Grand Master,
Edward Stevenson, Deputy Grand Master, Drew Nelson, Grand
Secretary, and Mervyn Bishop, Grand Treasurer.
A spokesman described the meeting as positive.
"We are still not entirely satisfied about the police
response to the current spate of attacks on our halls but
following the meeting we are a lot happier. The police told
us in confidence about the measures they were taking and we
hope that they will be successful.
The delegation then went on to Hillsborough Castle to meet
Shaun Woodward. They were joined by the DUP leader Ian Paisley
and MPs, Peter Robinson, Jeffrey Donaldson and Nigel Dodds,
who were there to support the Orange delegation.
A spokesman said:
"This was a constructive meeting. We explained in detail
our concerns and the Secretary of State re-affirmed commitments
which had been made to the Order by his predecessor Peter
Hain. This was re-assuring but we will not wait to see if
the government can deliver on promises they have made to us."
Since 1971, there have been 286 arson attacks on Orange Halls
and 50 have been completely destroyed. Twenty seven halls
have been targetted by arsonists this year.
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