Police investigate arson attack on Greenisland Church of the Holy Name

The minister of a church in Co Antrim devastated by a fire has pledged they will "rise from this".

Reverend Dr Isy Hawthorne-Steele was speaking to UTV after the arson attack on the Church of the Holy Name in Greenisland.

Pictures show the parish hall destroyed and part of the main Church of Ireland building badly damaged.

The church had just celebrated its 70th anniversary. Rev Hawthorne-Steele said she thought it may have been a "prank" that caused the fire.

"It is like a real loss, we are numb at the idea this is an arsonist attack. It is a shocking thing to come to terms with. But no one was hurt and that is the key thing here," she told UTV.

"There has never been animosity in this community."

She said people always talk of the welcome they receive from the church.

"That is always what we have been renound for... embracing people of faith and we will rise from this.

"We will get through this together, this will be a new dawn."

The blaze, which started on Sunday night, caused significant damage to the Church of Ireland building and hall in Greenisland.Bishop of Connor the Rev George Davison described the fire as heart-breaking.

In a post on Facebook, he said the community had spent a “joyful afternoon celebrating the 70th anniversary of the Church of the Holy Name” but they had returned later to see a “terrible fire on the premises”.“It was heart-breaking to watch and to stand with so many parishioners who couldn’t quite believe what we were witnessing,” he said.“I’m so thankful that no-one was hurt and very grateful to the members of the Fire Service and the PSNI for all their efforts this evening.

He added: “The Church of the Holy Name is not a damaged building, it is the amazing group of people that I met there this afternoon and who stood together this evening and cried and hugged each other and resolved to keep on worshipping and serving Jesus in Greenisland.”A police spokesman said they received a report of a fire at the property in Station Road at around 9.10pm on Sunday.“Officers along with colleagues from the Northern Ireland Fire Service attended and the blaze was extinguished,” he said.“The church was celebrating its 70th anniversary this week, and last night was busy in particular. Thankfully no-one was injured; however a significant amount of damage was caused to both buildings.“We are treating this as arson and I am appealing to anyone who may have witnessed anyone suspicious in the area or to anyone with CCTV, doorbell or other footage that could assist with inquiries, to contact police on 101 quoting reference 1437 of 01/09/24.”

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