Narrow Water Memorial Damage To Be Treated As Hate Crime By Police

Desecrated wreaths at the site of the IRA murder of 18 soldiers at Narrow Water (Image: Memorial to the Narrow Water Massacre)

Police are treating the desecration of wreaths at the site of the IRA murder of 18 soldiers as a hate crime amid reports that football fans were to blame.

Poppy wreaths, crosses and written tributes were vandalised at Narrow Water, near Warrenpoint in Co Down where a British Army convoy was ambushed by two roadside bombs in 1979.

Sixteen Paras and two Queen's own Highlanders died in the attack and six other soldiers were seriously injured, making it the deadliest attack on the British Army during the Troubles. 

The Warrenpoint ambush happened only hours after Lord Louis Mountbatten was killed by an IRA bomb in Donegal Bay in the Irish Republic.

Cliftonville Football Club, a Belfast-based outfit whose supporters would mostly be drawn from the nationalist/republican tradition in Northern Ireland, said it was aware of reports that some people returning from Saturday's fixture against Warrenpoint Town were responsible.

The club condemned the incident as "pathetic" and made clear that the perpetrators were not an official or affiliated supporters club.

Cliftonville chairman Gerard Lawlor said: "I totally condemn any act of desecration. We live in a sad society where anyone would get a kick out of desecrating a memorial.

"If anyone connected with our Club has any information about the incident then they should report it to the PSNI. This pathetic act isn't in my name nor that of Cliftonville Football Club."

The club said it would cooperate fully with the Police Service of Northern Ireland investigation.

A PSNI spokesman said:

"The incident is being treated as a hate crime."

Sinn Fein Assembly member Sinead Ennis said: "This is the second time in recent months that the wreaths at Narrow Water in Warrenpoint have been vandalised.

"There is no place for attacks like in our society and I condemn this act outright.

"Monuments and memorials are important places in communities and should be respected.

"I would encourage anyone with information on this incident to contact the PSNI."