Seventeen Orange halls in the North have been attacked so far this year, 12 in the last three weeks, the Grand Orange Lodge of Ireland said yesterday.
The reported attacks do not take account of minor acts of vandalism such as the painting of slogans, it said.
Two Protestant churches have also been maliciously damaged in the North since the beginning of this month, according to a spokeswoman for the Church of Ireland. "Whether or not these attacks were sectarian is hard to say," she said.
A secluded Protestant church in Dundrum, Co Down, is the latest church to be attacked. Vandals ransacked the church vestry last Saturday night, smashing glassware and ripping up documents and registers connected with the Victorian building. The church safe was also cut open but no money had been left in it.
The Orange Order is concerned that halls which have been damaged, in what it believes were orchestrated sectarian attacks, have not been granted RUC Chief Constable certificates to confirm that the attacks were sectarian. The possession of a certificate simplifies and accelerates the process of receiving compensation from the British government.
However, a certificate cannot be issued unless evidence exists that an attack was sectarian. "Often in the case of arson any evidence is destroyed in the fire," explained an RUC spokesman. The figures for this year indicate the level of attacks on Orange halls is similar to last year. In 1997, there were 32 attacks on halls. The highest level reached in the last four years was in 1996 when a total of 47 halls were severely damaged. There were 38 attacks in 1995.