The key facts

  • The Rasharkin Chosen Few lodge counted 51 incidents against its hall over 30 years
  • The PSNI recorded 17 hate crimes against Orange Order and Apprentice Boys halls over the past year
  • Lodge members criticised the police after footage showed a patrol car driving over fresh graffiti without stopping

The most attacked Orange hall

Members of the Rasharkin Chosen Few Orange lodge in County Antrim claim their hall is 'the most attacked Orange hall in Northern Ireland': over 30 years they have counted 51 incidents. This is reported by BBC News NI citing lodge representatives. According to lodge member Leigh Gerrow, the attacks have ranged from graffiti to attempted arson; the building now has steel doors and no windows, and lodge members do not park cars outside for fear of damage. 'Sometimes you have to take a step back and realise this is not a normal way of life,' he said.

Statistics and police response

Over the past year, the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) recorded 17 hate crimes against Orange Order and Apprentice Boys halls across the country — more than in the previous two years and the second-highest figure in five years. The PSNI said a 'robust and comprehensive policing plan' is in place in Rasharkin to prevent further attacks, and condemned sectarianism, intimidation and hate crimes. District Superintendent Yvonne McManus acknowledged the serious impact of the incidents on lodge members and said that, given the repeated nature of the attacks, police had adopted 'a different policing approach' to the overall pattern of offences against the hall this year.

Dispute over camera footage

The lodge provided the BBC with surveillance footage. One recording shows the incident of 12 July 2025 — the height of the Orange Order marching season: masked figures wrote 'INLA' on the road near the hall, and at around 01:15 disappeared from view seconds before a PSNI patrol car drove over the graffiti without stopping; shortly afterwards vandals threw paint at the building. Another recording, from June 2026, shows a masked figure spraying sectarian slogans on the hall's wall. Gerrow said the footage was handed to police, but they refused to release it, and described the police response as 'the police handled this very badly'. The PSNI, for its part, explained that the patrol had been in the area about 10 minutes before the 'reported damage to property' on 12 July 2025, and that after a report was received at 01:22 — about seven minutes after the car drove past — officers were dispatched from Kilrea; according to police, no one was at the scene during the patrol, and footage of both incidents was deemed 'unsuitable' for public release.

Impact on the community and political assessments

The lodge's senior officer, Worshipful Master Rodney Cubitt, said the attacks hinder charitable work: events have to be held during the day to reduce the risk of attack, and the lodge does not dare hold night-time events. He stressed that the lodge has a history dating back to 1796 and that it is important to maintain a presence in the village, adding that 'only a very small minority in this village is hostile to our culture'. Democratic Unionist Party Assembly Member Cheryl Brownlee called the rise in attacks on halls alarming and unacceptable, and said public trust in the police is currently 'in difficulty' and that the PSNI needs to work harder 'on the ground'. She also said that in recent weeks she had seen images of crossed-out Orangemen and the words 'shoot your local Orangeman' in Belfast, calling this 'absolutely devastating'. The BBC previously reported that police classified the graffiti on the Orange hall as a sectarian hate crime, and were also investigating a possible link between the graffiti on the Orange hall and a Gaelic athletic club.

Leigh Gerrow stands in front of a section of photos mounted on a white wall which show various groups of Orange Order members. He has black hair flicked up at the front and is wearing a grey quarter-zip over a white shirt.
Image caption,

Leigh Gerrow says Orange Order members in Rasharkin are frustrated by ongoing attacks on their hall

CCTV footage in greyscale showing a hooded figure in a tracksuit spraying graffiti onto the wall of Rasharkin Orange Hall. He is crouched and pointing towards the wall which is on the right of the image.Image source, Rasharkin Chosen Few LOL 694
Image caption,

CCTV from 6 July captured an attack on the hall

Rasharkin Orange Hall which is cream with a brown steel door and pitched roof. 'Up the RA' is spray painted on one side of the hall and 'IRA' on another as well as on the door. The photo is taken through a black security fence.
Image caption,

Grafitti from previous attacks is still visible on the front of the hall

Rodney Cubit stands in front of a display board on which there are black and white pictures of Orangemen and also a drawing of a white horse on which King William of Orange is mounted. Rodney is bald and is wearing a grey quarter-zip over a white T-shirt.
Image caption,

Rodney Cubitt says the attacks hamper the lodge's work

DUP MLA Cheryl Brownlee outside Parliament Buildings, Stormont. She has wavy shoulder-length blonde hair and is wearing a light grey woollen jumper and a Remembrance poppy pin. Behind her is a low wall with black lamposts on it.
Image caption,

Cheryl Brownlee said it was unacceptable that sectarian attacks on halls were still happening in 2026

IRA in black spray paint on a pebbledashed wallA PSNI logo on a brick wallBlue paint splashed over a yellow coloured Orange Hall in Rasharkin. The words IRA are written on a path to the left of the building.