Hall arsons 'aim to breed strife'
Attacks on Orange halls are intended to
"breed strife and division", a senior clergyman
has said.
Methodist President Rev Roy Cooper said the attackers
were "out of step with the vast majority of the community".
More than 200 Orangemen protested outside Hillsborough
Castle on Monday evening following a spate of attacks.
The number of successful prosecutions for attacks on halls
is just 0.8% - the lowest for any crime in Northern Ireland,
the Orange Order has claimed.
But the Northern Ireland Office said it took the matter
very seriously and had met the Order to discuss a way
forward.
Grand Master Robert Saulters told the crowd at Monday's
protest that good relations with the government were being
severely damaged.
The Orange Order said more than 30 of its buildings have
been attacked in the past year.
"These ongoing attacks and the absence of an adequate
government response to them has led the institution to
doubt what practical benefits the St Andrew's Agreement
and the establishment of a devolved Assembly have brought
to our community," Mr Saulters said.
In a statement, the NIO said a number of meetings had
been held with the order.
A spokesman said that Security Minister Paul Goggins visited
one of the halls which had been attacked and met police
and Orange Order representatives on Monday. Further meetings
were planned, he said.
First Minister Ian Paisley said he and Mr Goggins had
talked about the need to streamline the compensation process
for damaged halls.
The attackers were "intent on stirring up sectarian
division" but were "a minority within Northern
Ireland who have a deep-seated hatred for all things Protestant",
he said.
Condemning the attacks as "unacceptable," Mr Goggins
said he was resisting pressure to re-classify the halls
to speed up compensation claims.
"We're being pressed to classify the halls as agricultural
property in which payouts are made out automatically, irrespective
of the evidence available," he said.
"I think that would be a step backwards in the history
of Northern Ireland, and that's why I'm seeking a commercial
solution - ministers over a long period of time have promised
to do our best to make this commercial approach work effectively."
Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams said: "Such attacks
are motivated by sectarianism and have no place in this
society."
He was speaking on Monday after a third Orange Hall was
attacked over the weekend. 18th December 2007 BBC
News Online
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The
exodus of Protestants from various parts of Northern Ireland
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here to read of the many heinous acts carried out by republicans
