Gutted Orange Hall To Be Rebuilt

A dozen or so members of the Orange Order in County Cavan have been left feeling vulnerable by news that their Orange Hall has been destroyed in a fire.

However, one of the organisation’s leaders has promised to rebuild the gutted property.

Drew Nelson, the Orange Order's Grand Secretary said that Drumartin Orange Hall near Cootehill is the third Orange Hall in the county to be destroyed out of 10 over the last 20 years and that members in the area felt vulnerable.

"There's no doubt we'll rebuild this hall, as we've rebuilt every one of the 208 halls that have been subject to arson attacks during the Troubles," he added.

It is a small hall with an active working lodge of about a dozen members: "They're a lodge which would be quite well involved in local affairs," he said.

"For instance one of the events they had in the hall this year was a fundraising event for the Holy Family School for handicapped children in Cootehill.

"Obviously that shows a lodge that is involved in their local community."

He said members were generally becoming more involved in civic life in the Irish Republic and said that he had also been contacted by Irish government officials expressing their sympathy and support for the lodge.

Gardai officers are trying to establish the cause of the blaze.

(BMcC)