NATIONALISTS should demonstrate their support to the loyal orders whose hall in Co Tyrone was destroyed last week by withdrawing objections to a forthcoming parade, a unionist politician has said.
UUP leadership candidate Tom Elliott also called on the police to label the arson attack on Bonn Hall in Pomeroy last Thursday as a �hate crime�. �Might I suggest if the nationalist community of Pomeroy wish to show support for their neighbours I would ask them to withdraw their objection to the short parade around the Diamond on the Last Saturday evening,� said Mr Elliott.
The Fermanagh and South Tyrone MLA said such a gesture would �speak volumes� to the members of the local preceptory.
�It would send a message to those who did this that they speak for no one but themselves.�
Mr Elliott added: �I have always been greatly impressed by the resilience that the Protestant community of Pomeroy have shown through many years of persecution. Sadly the hopes of many that the campaign against them had ended have been disappointed, as this most recent attack on the Bonn Hall illustrates.
�It seems there is still an element who continually resort to violence and intimidation to achieve their aims. In the past it resulted in bombings and murders, and in more recent years it included the exclusion of the local lodges from parading in the town centre.�
In a statement the Grand Orange Lodge appealed for everyone within the Order and their supporters not to be drawn into the trap �of allowing this to increase community tension�.
The hall, which is home to two local Orange lodges and a Royal Black Preceptory as well as a pipe band and a flute band, had not been used since it was damaged by an explosive device in 2008.
Sinn Feins Martin McGuinness said last weeks culprits were �motivated solely by sectarian bigotry�.
