Loyalist arsonists 'wage campaign of intimidation'

ARSONISTS who attacked a Catholic church in the North are waging a sectarian campaign of intimidation, it was claimed yesterday.

As tensions rose on the eve of the loyalist marching season climax, flammable liquid was poured through a window at the back of Aughnahoy chapel in Portglenone, Co Antrim, and set alight.

The blaze was started as pipe bombers targeted a Catholic-owned furniture shop in the nearby village of Ahoghill.

Police have launched an investigation into the blaze at the disused church on the Ballymena Road, which left flooring at the rear and some seating worst affected.

Fire chiefs said the front door was open and a back window had been tampered with. Assistant district commander Peter O’Reilly said: “There was a grill removed from a window at the rear which was damaged.” He praised two firefighters who went in to locate the flames.

“The building was heavily smoke logged, but by their quick actions and professionalism they found the fire at the rear of the chapel and quickly extinguished it,” said Mr O’Reilly. Another Catholic church in Co Antrim was also targeted in an overnight attack. Red, white and blue paint was splattered all over the front doors and wall of the Harryville Chapel on the Larne Road in Ballymena.

Several years ago, the church was at the centre of a weekly loyalist protest, during which worshippers had to run the gauntlet of loyalist demonstrators while on their way to Saturday evening services.

Northern Ireland is bracing itself for the Orange Order’s Twelfth of July celebrations today amid fears that Protestant and Catholic mobs could clash in flashpoint areas.

SDLP Assembly member Sean Farren visited the scene of the Portglenone fire and said: “This was clearly done to intimidate and to send out a message that Catholics are not welcome here.”

But the attack shocked Mr Farren, who is also the finance minister in the Stormont power-sharing regime.

Despite the local GAA club having been targeted in the past, he said community relations in the village were good. Army explosives experts were also called to Ahoghill, Co Antrim after a pipe bomb was found outside Dougan’s furniture outlet.

The device had failed to explode after being left at the shop which has been rebuilt after being burnt down in a previous attack.