Sectarian graffitti outside Orange Hall treated as hate crime

Rasharkin Loyal Orange Lodge Police in Coleraine are treating the painting of IRA-related graffiti outside an Orange Hall in County Antrim as a sectarian hate crime. The PSNI received a report on the morning of Friday 30 August, that graffiti had been sprayed on the building in Rasharkin on the footpath and painted on the road. It is believed that the damage was caused overnight. TUV councillor Jonathan McAuley condemned the graffiti which he described as “sinister vandalism”. ‘Intimidate and instil fear’ North Antrim MP, Jim Allister, described the incident as “clearly designed to intimidate and instil fear in the minority Unionist community of Rasharkin” and appealed to police to “act swiftly”.