Orange chief condemns attack

national | miscellaneous | news report Monday March 31, 2003 18:07 by rooster

THE head of the Orange Order in Northern Ireland has vowed to rebuild an Orange Hall in Co Armagh which was gutted in a weekend arson attack.

Worshipful master William Anderson said "Orangeism would continue to thrive in the area" despite the blaze at the hall on Causanagh Road in Loughgall, which was spotted around 10.30am yesterday.

The arson attack has been condemned by local Assembly member Danny Kennedy, who branded those behind the blaze as "mindless bigots".

Mr Kennedy said: "This area has good community relations and there have never been any substantial attacks on the hall before and then all of a sudden we have this cowardly attack which has destroyed it.

"Everyone is obviously shocked by what has happened but by talking to the members of the Lodge, I can already sense the enthusiasm and real desire to rebuild this hall and serve the local community again."

Mr Anderson pointed out the gutted hall was used not only by the Orange Lodge, but also by other local organisations.

"We cannot understand why our hall has been attacked. It is situated in an area with good community relations and those who carried out this attack have no support within their own community", he said.

"If those who carried out the attack think that they have in some way stopped the Orange Lodge from functioning, then they are far from the truth.

"Whilst obviously very annoyed about such a cowardly attack, we have already received tremendous support and are looking forward to the challenge of rebuilding a new hall."

Detectives investigating the blaze, who carried out forensic tests, revealed the fire had been started deliberately.