Arrest follows Orange hall attack

A 24-year-old man has been arrested in connection with a suspected arson attack on an Orange hall in Ballykelly.

The blaze was discovered in the hall at about 0600 GMT on Sunday. It was scorch damaged.

It is the fifth such attack on Orange halls in Northern Ireland in over a week.

The outgoing Grand Master of the lodge, Ivan Kelly, called for the attacks to end. "I hope this doesn't escalate and go round any more halls," he said. It

"This is something we don't want, and 99% of the people here don't want it.

"I want it to stop, and I want to condemn what's happened here," he said.

In an unrelated incident, three halls near Lisburn were covered with sectarian graffiti on Saturday and another was attacked the previous weekend.

The Grand Secretary of the Orange Order, Drew Nelson, said the attacks were a "worrying development".

"I think we're a bit surprised that five halls have now been attacked in the last five days," he said.

"I think it does raise some concerns, we're concerned that these attacks are continuing on Orange halls and seem to have picked up again after a number of months where there have been relatively few attacks."

East Londonderry MP Gregory Campbell said: "It is difficult to know what the rationale for this attack was. People will be appalled."

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