Young farmers targeted in '˜sectarian attack'

Crumlin Young Farmers' Club has condemned the vandalism of one of its members' cars as 'a sectarian attack'.

A post on the club’s Facebook page detailed how during their latest meeting on Tuesday night (September 20), vandals scored the letters ‘IRA’ into the paintwork of the car, which was parked outside Crumlin Memorial Orange Hall, where YFC members meet twice a month.

Under the heading ‘ANOTHER Sectarian Attack in Crumlin’, the post said: “I’m shocked and disgraced at a Sectarian Attack which took place last night during our Young Farmers’ meeting in Crumlin Orange Hall. One of our members has had the initials ‘IRA’ keyed into her car.

“While our meetings are held in an Orange Hall I would like to stress that the YFCU is NOT a Protestant organisation. We are a community group and the fact that such acts are still being carried out in Crumlin is disgusting.”

The post went on to ask people to share the information to “make others cautious about parking in Crumlin.”

Speaking to the Ulster Star, Crumlin YFC club leader Connor McCleery confirmed that the Fiat 500 car had been vandalised sometime between 8pm and 10pm.

“They keyed it right down to the metal so it will probably cost a lot of money to fix,” he said.

“We are definitely not religious or political so I can’t understand why someone would have done this.”

A PSNI spokesman said the incident “doesn’t appear to have been reported to police.”