Police are investigating the incident as a sectarian hate crime
An Orange Hall in Co Antrim has been vandalised for the “fifth time in a year.” Graffiti was sprayed on the walls of the Rasharkin Orange Hall building, with messages including ‘up the ra’ and ‘IRA.’
Police said they are treating the incident as a sectarian hate crime. The incident took place in the early hours of Tuesday morning, July 14, at the site on Main Street.
In a statement, PSNI Inspector Armour said: “At 8am, we received a report that graffiti had been sprayed on a building in the Main Street area of the town at approximately 1.20am. This is being treated as a sectarian hate crime and enquiries are ongoing.”
The incident has been widely condemned, with Rasharkin Abod (Apprentice Boys of Derry) posting on social media that it was the fifth attack in a single year.
They said: “We can’t help but wonder if this was a Mosque or GAA hall what the response would be, 5 attacks in a year, simply not good enough from a society that has moved on!”
North Antrim MP Jim Allister said: “Last night’s attack on Rasharkin Orange Hall was but the latest in a long series on the building. But the truth is that Rasharkin Orange Hall is more than a building. It is symbol of the minority Protestant community in the village.
“The attack is made all the more chilling by the nature of the slogans crudely spray painted on the hall. Repeatedly they reference the IRA which waged a 30 year campaign of terror against Protestants and in so doing filled many grave.
“Just yesterday the self styled First Minister for all was hypocritically attacking loyalist bonfires. This is the same person who continues to defend, justify and even celebrate the wicked IRA who, as last night’s attack in Rasharkin illustrated, are still being used to intimidate Protestants.
“Her language of “no alternative” to IRA terror is the sort of rhetoric which formed the backdrop to last night’s attack. Sinn Fein need to not only condemn this cowardly attack carried out in the hours of darkness but also the murderous IRA who are celebrated in the vandalism.”
Issuing a joint statement in condemnation of the attack, DUP councillor Mervyn Storey, councillor Darryl Wilson and councillor John McAuley said: “While the majority of the residents of Rasharkin showed respect and tolerance for the 12th celebrations yesterday sadly there remains a small unrepresentative group who just want to display their sectarian intolerance of anything from a different tradition, even a building of bricks and mortar.
“Sadly this is the second time in weeks that the hall has been attacked and one of many over the years. Those who talk much about intolerance and demand respect for their culture and tradition seem incapable of displaying the same.
“It’s time for those in leadership in republicanism in the village to call this sectarian hatred out and condemn it for what it is, an attack on the Protestant community of the village.”
TUV Ballymoney councillor Jonathan McAuley added: “This morning we have learned of yet another sectarian attack on Rasharkin Orange Hall, carried out under the cover of darkness for no reason other than to raise tensions and, it would appear, intimidate the few remaining Protestants in the village into leaving.
“We have yet to hear any condemnation from local Sinn Féin representatives. This comes just a week after some of those same representatives were calling for the bonfire at Finvoy to be removed. That bonfire was not intended to intimidate anyone but to celebrate our loyalist culture, unlike the attack on the Orange Hall.
“I want to commend the young lads from Finvoy for the tremendous effort they put into this year’s bonfire. Their hard work and commitment deserve recognition.
“I have spoken with the PSNI this morning regarding the attack on Rasharkin Orange Hall, and I await to see what action, if any, will be taken. Those responsible should be identified and held accountable.”
Local councillor Alan Barr described the attack as “pathetic.”
The UUP representative for Braid and Mid and East Antrim said: “After a successful Twelfth, retrograde elements want to drag us into a dark past by glorifying PIRA terrorists by spraying their hate on Rasharkin Orange Hall.
“Let’s remember that not too far from Rasharkin, PIRA murdered a defenceless off duty member of the Royal Irish Regiment. It’s pathetic that they want to glorify such murderers.”
Rasharkin Orange Hall has been the target of attacks in previous years. Last year, on July 12, police investigated a sectarian hate crime at the site, when it was reported that paint had been thrown over the front of the building and graffiti daubed on the walls.
In 2024, pro-IRA graffiti at the hall was condemned as “sinister”, with the display appearing just before Orange Victims’ Day, when commemorations take place across Northern Ireland in memory of the members of the Orange Order killed during The Troubles.
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