The Grand Orange Lodge of Ireland has condemned
a weekend attack on a hall in Newry.
Altnaveigh Orange Hall was broken into on Saturday
afternoon. Windows and other items in the hall were smashed
and a memorial tablet to murdered Orangemen was badly damaged.
The hall was temporarily secured following the
attack but it was broken into again on Saturday night and
further damage was caused.
The hall is situated close to Newry by-pass
and has been attacked on numerous occasions in the past.
A spokesman for Grand Lodge described it as
a sectarian attack.
"The Orangemen at Altnaveigh are well known
in the area for their community relations work but clearly
there are people who have no respect for their work or traditions.
One of the most hurtful aspects of the attack was that a memorial
tablet to Orangemen murdered in the troubles was damaged.
That really is a despicable action and we would call on all
community representatives in the area to condemn the attack
without equivocation."
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