Armstrong condemns Sinn Fein “slip-up”
UUP MLA Billy Armstrong today condemned the latest in a long line of attacks on Orange Halls, following recent attacks at Seagoe in Portadown and Newcastle.
The Mid-Ulster, Ulster Unionist MLA said
“In the period around the Twelfth of July there were a number of attacks on Orange Halls in my own constituency in parts of South Londonderry and east Tyrone. Since then further attacks have taken place on Orange Halls in Counties Armagh and Down.
We have long suspected that these incidents are not isolated or random, but are part of a co-ordinated attack on visible representations of Protestant and Unionist culture.
The news that a member of Sinn Fein’s youth wing appears to have fallen from the roof of the very hall in Newcastle where flags were removed will come as little surprise to many.
This is a test for the boast that Sinn Fein are now fully supportive of the police. Here we have the perfect opportunity for Sinn Fein to demonstrate that they do support the police by calling on anyone worthy information relating to these attacks to come forward with information.
These attacks also present a challenge to the Deputy First Minister who’s Department is charged with overseeing equality issues. There is no doubt that attacks on Orange Halls are meant as attacks on the Protestant community and should be classed as hate crimes. The Orange Institution and its members are entitled to the protection and rights as anyone else.”