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Date Posted: 22:30:49 07/11/02 Thu
Author: Lynn Msc
Subject: Sectarian link to church fire

hursday, 11 July, 2002, 14:24 GMT 15:24 UK
Sectarian link to church attack

A passer-by alerted police

A fire at a Catholic church in County Antrim bears all the hallmarks of a sectarian attack, police have said.

The police and fire service were called to the scene of the blaze at 18th century Aughnahoy Church near Portglenone just after 0600 BST on Thursday.

It is believed a grill was removed from a rear window and flammable liquid poured inside and ignited.

Fire officer Peter O'Reilly said the building was filled with smoke.
We know we're at a time of heightened tensions in the community generally .

"The front door of the chapel was open. There was damage to a window at the rear," he said.
"The property would have been badly smoke damaged, however, fire damage was confined to the rear by the quick actions of the fire crew."

SDLP North Antrim assembly member Sean Farren visited the scene of the church fire on Thursday morning.
"This was clearly done to intimidate and to send out a message that Catholics are not welcome here," said Mr Farren.

Sean Farren: Condemned attack

"Attacks like this have to be condemned unreservedly."

Meanwhile, there has been a petrol bomb attack at a school in Londonderry.

It was thrown through a back window of Clondermott High School in the Waterside area on Thursday causing scorch and smoke damage to a wall and carpet in a classroom.

Northern Ireland First Minister David Trimble said: "These mindless attacks serve no purpose, but fuel further division in our community."

Northern Ireland Security Minister Jane Kennedy condemned the attacks on the churches.

"Sectarianism in any form is ugly but to attack churches which play such a central role in the lives of so many families in the local community is particularly repugnant," she said.

Church of Ireland rector Reverend Kevin Brew said: "The people who do this sort of thing... their only interest is in stoking up tensions. It should be the responsibility of all of us."

A few miles away in Ahoghill, County Antrim, Army bomb experts dealt with a suspicious object found outside a furniture shop belonging to a Catholic family.


A controlled explosion was carried out on the object left at the shop which had recently been rebuilt after being burnt down in a previous attack.

The security alert ended shortly after midday. The package, which was made to look like a pipe bomb, was declared a hoax.

Protests

Meanwhile, a clear-up operation has taken place at Harryville Catholic church near Ballymena, County Antrim, after it was splattered with paint on Wednesday night.

That attack has been condemned by SDLP councillor Declan O'Loan who said he was distressed by the incident.

"What has happened is a serious paint bomb attack on the church which is a sad and unfortunate thing," he said.

"We're at a time of heightened tensions in the community generally and one would have to associate it with that."

Loyalist protesters mounted a weekly picket outside the church during Saturday evening Mass between September 1996 and May 1998.

The protests were called off shortly after the Good Friday Agreement received 71% support in a referendum.

The picket was mounted because of loyalist anger over nationalist objections to a march by the Protestant Orange Order through nearby Dunloy.


 
BBC NI's Colette Maguire:
"The incident has shocked and upset the close-knit community"

Fire Officer Peter O'Reilly:
"The job was made more difficult by the amount of smoke"

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