The attack on the isolated Church of Ireland hall at Clogh took place while people were playing bowls inside.

Intimidation

The incident has been condemned as sectarian intimidation and comes amid growing concern at the menace posed by dissident republicans.

According to witnesses, a petrol bomb in a whiskey bottle was thrown but failed to ignite.

Petrol

Petrol was found on a car parked near the hall's front door and the ground was scorched.

An abandoned van registered in the Republic was found crashed into a fence at the hall, with the driver and passenger doors left open.

Fury

DUP councillor Paul Robinson hit out at the attack, but also claimed police failed to turn up on Wednesday night or Thursday morning.

"The big problem is that police were phoned at 10.15pm and at 10.30pm on Wednesday: they never came out.

"When Roslea police barracks was closed, people were told they would have a better service, but what they have is a daylight service, it is not a 24-hour service.

"If they have not the manpower, they need to get more manpower."
Cllr Robinson condemned the attack as sectarian intimidation.

"There were 15 people in the hall, they are scared, some of them are saying they are not going back to bowls. The group age range is from 10 years to mid-70s," he said.

Warning

William Nelson, who was at the hall, said: "If that had gone off and ignited that car, it would have blown the front off the hall."

He said the hall was attacked during the Troubles in the 1990s.

"It makes you think back to those times again. We were led to believe this was all over, but it doesn't look like it to me," he said.

The car that was splashed with petrol belonged to John Egerton who was playing bowls with his son Robert, 12, and wife Elizabeth.

Mr Egerton said the incident was very stressful for the children, but he was thankful the car was not set on fire.

He said people were sombre in the aftermath of the attack: "We are fearful. We thought this was all over, we thought we had nothing more to worry about.

Isolated

"Around Clogh in the Troubles it was a difficult place to go because it was isolated, and we thought that was all over. It is only since the end of the Troubles and peacetime that we went back and set up the bowling club.

"We were always hopeful the trouble was gone, but there is always a dissident element to put a spanner in the works."
UUP councillor Harold Andrews, who is also chairman of Clogh Hall committee, condemned the attack.

Sinister

He said: "It was probably just to try to get police into the area, but it is sinister enough given that there were 15 people and young people in the hall.

"This area is very exposed as it is on the border. Clogh Church is surrounded by the border.

"There is a complete lack of police in the area. If they do come out, they have flak jackets on, like they did in the height of the Troubles, and I understand that they have that fear of being targeted,"

Terror

Mr Andrews said the lack of a police presence allows terrorist activity and anti-social behaviour in the area to continue.

The PSNI has defended the delay in responding to the incident.

A spokesman said dissident republican attacks had been mounted on police in the area, and hoped that people would understand they had to take care in responding.

"The area is remote, and there have been two attempts since 2006 to leave bombs to kill police officers.

"The dissident republican threat remains high.

"It is an indiscriminate threat and blame lies squarely with those who defy overwhelming wishes of people to enjoy their lives free of terror and violence."