Barbarians burn chapels
By Sean O'Tuama
``I can't believe this has taken place,'' said Hugh Heffron gazing
with tear-filled eyes at the burnt-out husk of his local chapel,
St James' in Crumlin, County Down on Thursday 3 July. It was
burned by loyalists believed to be connected to the Loyalist
Volunteer Force, along with nine other chapels across the North.
His son, Ciaran, lay just yards away in the graveyard. His
funeral had taken place in April after he was gunned down by a
death squad of the LVF.
Both Catholic parishioners and their Protestant neighbours
gathered in the grounds of the 200 year old building, many
weeping as they surveyed the wanton destruction of a place of
worship.
The ten Catholic chapels were attacked on Wednesday night, 2 July
in a carefully coordinated campaign. In many cases hoax calls
were made to the Fire Service to draw them away from the blazing
churches.
The worst hit chapels were in Crumlin, Lisburn, Castlewellan,
Belfast and Tandragee. Others in Banbridge, Portadown and two in
Dungannon sustained mainly smoke and water damage.
Twenty one churches have been attacked so far this year,
including these ten, the vast majority being Catholic chapels.
The Church of the Immaculate Conception in Leitrim, County Down
had been in the middle of a £250,000 refurbishment when loyalists
doused it with petrol and ignited it that Wednesday night.
SF Assembly member for South Down, Mick Murphy, slammed the
attack as ``disgraceful'' and added ``It is all the more shocking in
an area that has never known sectarianism.''
The repair bill for all the chapels is set to run into millions
of pounds.
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