01/07/2011

Rosslea Orange Hall Destroyed By Fire

A fire in County Fermanagh has destroyed an Orange hall in the early hours of Friday morning.

Police and the fire service are investigating the cause of the blaze at Inver Orange Hall in Rosslea, which is a result of a suspected arson attack.

The alert was raised after a woman who lives nearby saw the flames.

DUP MLA for Fermanagh & South Tyrone Arlene Foster condemned the attack calling it a sectarian attack on an isolated rural community.

She also suggested there had been a level of organisation to the attack.

Speaking on Friday Morning, Ms Foster said: "Inver Orange Hall is a community hall serving a small rural community in County "Fermanagh. It would appear that the hall has been deliberately attacked and destroyed by people motivated by nothing other than sectarian hatred for their Protestant neighbours.

"It would appear that there was a high level of organisation behind this attack with a phone call made to the emergency services about an alleged incident in another area of the County.

"This was a deliberate attempt to draw those services away and allow those responsible to carry out the arson attack. I have spoken today to members of the Lodge who use the hall and will be visiting it later to show my support with a Protestant community in the area who are suffering these calculated attempts to intimidate them."

Meanwhile, Ulster Unionist Harold Andrews said the hall would be missed very much. "It is going to be a serious loss for the Protestant community," he said.

"It is used by a wide range of Protestant people in the area. There is a very successful ladies' group with 24 or 25 members; also the Orange Lodge, the local band and a few other organisations."

(DW/GK)

Related Northern Ireland News Stories
Click here for the latest headlines.

27 March 2024
Appeal Following Theft Of 'Lifesaving Equipment' From Fire Station
The PSNI have issued an appeal for information following he theft of "lifesaving equipment" from Carryduff Fire Station on Monday, 25 March. At around 8.30pm, it was reported to police that the fire station on the Comber Road was broken into. Around 8.
11 April 2024
Ministers Welcome Launch Of £1.1m East Belfast Redevelopment
Ministers have welcomed the start of an ambitious new, £1.1 million redevelopment project aimed at improving community relations and tackling homelessness in East Belfast.
13 July 2018
Orange Hall Attack Being Treated As A 'Hate Crime'
Police are treating an attack on an Orange Hall in Crumlin, Co Antrim, as a hate crime. The PSNI received a report that a bin was on fire in the Main Street area of the town at around 4.30am on Thursday, 12 July. Graffiti was daubed on a wall and door of the memorial hall. Police are appealing to anyone with information to contact them.
03 October 2014
Donegal Orange Hall Destroyed In Fire
An Orange hall in County Donegal has been destroyed in a fire in the second-such incident in the space of a month. The blaze at Convoy Orange hall was discovered during the early hours of Friday morning. Gardai are currently working to establish the cause of the fire, while early indications suggest entry was forced into the building.
14 May 2014
'IRA' Graffiti Daubed On Orange Hall
Republican graffiti has been daubed on an Orange Hall in County Antrim during an overnight attack. The Grand Orange Lodge of Ireland has condemned the graffiti, which was daubed on the exterior of Fourscore Orange Hall outside Glenavy. The graffiti included 'IRA' slogans and 'Orange scum'.