Sir, - I write to you on my own behalf and on behalf of the parishioners of the small Co Monaghan congregation of St Mary's Parish Church, Drummully. We are a Church of Ireland congregation located on the Cavan-Clones concession road and for many years we have suffered ongoing persecution and intimidation.
Around midnight of Tuesday, August 24th, I received a telephone call from a parishioner to say that our church hall was on fire again. Someone had placed a petrol-soaked tyre against the hall door and ignited it, resulting in the destruction of the door.
We know that the vast majority of people in the neighbourhood are appalled at this attack and indeed it was a member of the Catholic community who reported it to us. We are grateful to the Clones fire brigade and the Garda Siochana for their prompt and helpful response. Above all, we give thanks to Almighty God that no one was hurt and the damage was minimal.
The fact remains, however, that there are those within the majority community on the Border who hate us and want to see us cleared out of the area. Bear in mind that this is a church building; it has no political or strategic significance and is there for the use of our parishioners. We have a very successful table-tennis club based in the hall and it is used to offer hospitality at funerals and for occasional social events.
The attack on Tuesday of last week was vandalism motivated by sectarianism and a hatred of those of us who express our Christian faith according to the reformed tradition. Whether or not we have a ceasefire is a matter for the politicos; the fact is we have no peace. If you worship God in St Mary's Parish Church, Drummully, you may experience the peace of God which passes all human understanding, but you will not have peace of mind as you go about your daily life in the Border community. You will know that someone local has tried three times in four years to burn your church hall, you will know that there will probably be a ball-bearing shot through the church window by some passing thug, and you will also know that the perpetrator lives close by.
All this is against the backdrop of a parish which has seen families terrorised into leaving by the IRA and which has seen our original church hall burnt down in the 1980s. Given that our children daily face the cauldron of sectarian abuse on the school buses and that it is a lonely, isolated place to live, one would think we are downcast. Not so. We are keenly aware that we are not alone and that we proclaim a living and vibrant faith, that Jesus Christ is our Lord and we will worship Him and proclaim His name in all the world. If our buildings go, we will worship in a field or by the roadside and our persecutors will not succeed.
As we seek to love God with all our heart, mind and soul, we will seek to love our neighbour as ourselves. We will even pray for the poor lost soul who thought that a match and petrol could quench the Gospel of Jesus Christ and make us go away. The gates of hell will never prevail against the church of Christ and that's a promise. - Yours, etc.,
Alan Synnott, The Rectory, Newtownbutler, Co Fermanagh.