Orange Hall Attacked - Again

The latest in an ongoing series of attacks on a north Belfast Orange Hall has seen terrified women being escorted away from the scene by the police.

The women, female members of the lodge from Greencastle Orange Hall in the Whitewell area, had to be led away after the building was stoned.

This has led to an accusation from the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) that the incident in north Belfast was purely sectarian.

DUP MLA and prominent Orangeman, Nelson McCausland, said that police had to intervene to allow the ladies to escape and that it is the latest in a long list of attacks on the hall, and said this was nothing more than sectarianism, as the Lodge has long been a feature of the area.

The Orange Lodge's hall, situated beside the local Methodist Church, was until a decade ago, located in the midst of a quiet, lower middle class area where the population was mixed.

However, demographic changes have seen the lower Whitewell Road becoming a virtual extension of the strongly nationalist Bawnmore area nearby.

Various attempts have been made to destroy the building since then, with the facde now resembling a fortress.

In one incident, for example, the emergency services were alerted to a blaze after it was discovered that the back door had been forced open and petrol had been poured in and set alight.

On that occasion, the building suffered smoke and scorch damage, although no one was injured in the fire.

The area has seen its fair share of problems with the death of local teenager Thomas McDonald, who was killed in controversial circumstances riding his bike, being one such incident.

Mr McDonald was knocked off his bike after the driver of a car pursued him along a footpath after he was said to have thrown a brick at her windscreen. The mother was jailed for two years for manslaughter.

See: Funeral held for teenage cyclist killed in North Belfast and Arson attack on north Belfast Orange Hall

(BMcC)