{"id":346793,"date":"2025-08-15T14:53:14","date_gmt":"2025-08-15T14:53:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/346793\/"},"modified":"2025-08-15T14:53:14","modified_gmt":"2025-08-15T14:53:14","slug":"mossley-orange-hall-unionists-hit-out-after-flag-stolen-from-hall-in-co-antrim","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/346793\/","title":{"rendered":"Mossley Orange Hall: Unionists hit out after flag stolen from Hall in Co Antrim"},"content":{"rendered":"

South Antrim MP Robin Swann said the vandalism, which is understood to have occurred on Thursday night, should be roundly condemned.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe destruction of the flagpole and theft of the union flag at Mossley Orange Hall is incredibly disappointing to see and should be condemned by all,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

“This vandalism, carried out last night, is completely unacceptable and I urge anyone with information to speak to PSNI. <\/p>\n

“My colleagues have been in contact with the Lodge following this attack on their hall, and I will be offering to give my support however I can.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"South<\/p>\n

South Antrim MP Robin Swann<\/p>\n

Antrim and Newtownabbey UUP Councillor Robert Foster said there had never been an incident at the hall before.<\/p>\n

“This is a resource used by the whole local community, and recently the District and Lodge have held proactive outreach nights exploring the origins and history of the Orange Order as part of their work to strengthen community relations,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

“The lodge will have my full support and assistance in replacing the flagpole and flag as quickly as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

DUP MLA for the area, Trevor Clarke, said the attack was an example of \u201csectarian vandalism\u201d.<\/p>\n

“This is petty, pointless sectarian vandalism, and it\u2019s part of a worrying trend of sectarian attacks on Orange Halls across Northern Ireland,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

“I\u2019ve spoken with the Lodge, they\u2019ve contacted the PSNI, and I\u2019ll also be writing to raise this with police leadership. We need stronger, visible efforts to tackle these blatantly sectarian crimes before tensions escalate further.<\/p>\n

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“And to the sectarian idiots behind this, one day, you\u2019ll be caught. <\/p>\n

“One day, you\u2019ll sit in a job interview and have to explain why you\u2019ve a criminal record for a hate crime, theft and criminal damage… because you \u201cstruck a blow for Irish freedom\u201d one night by breaking into an Orange Hall, destroying a flagpole and stealing a Union Jack just because you are filled with sectarian hatred. Well done.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Some<\/p>\n

Some of the damage at Mossley Orange Hall. Pic: Trevor Clarke MLA<\/p>\n

Why is the M3 closed this weekend ? <\/p>\n

The PSNI has been approached for comment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"South Antrim MP Robin Swann said the vandalism, which is understood to have occurred on Thursday night, should…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":346794,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5011],"tags":[1211,1300,1144,6413,1610,15720,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-346793","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-northern-ireland","8":"tag-antrim-news","9":"tag-liam-tunney","10":"tag-northern-ireland","11":"tag-orange-order","12":"tag-police-service-of-northern-ireland","13":"tag-robin-swann","14":"tag-uk","15":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115033355398244167","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/346793","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=346793"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/346793\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/346794"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=346793"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=346793"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=346793"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}