Three arrested after boat burned out amid row over Tricolour flag
By David Young, PA
Three men were arrested after a boat was set alight in Co Antrim amid a row about a Tricolour flag that was displayed on it.
The incident, which police are treating as a sectarian motivated hate crime, happened outside a boat club in the Beach Road area of the seaside village of Portballintrae on Monday evening.
One man required hospital treatment for injuries sustained in an alleged assault.
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Police said they received a report around 7.45pm that an altercation had taken place involving a number of men in the pier area concerning a flag displayed on the boat.
Officers said the boat was later set alight and extensively damaged.
The Belfast Telegraph reported that the flag was an Irish Tricolour.
Three men – aged 25, 63 and 30 – were all arrested on suspicion of a number of offences including criminal damage and assault occasioning actual bodily harm.
The 63-year-old man was later released on bail, while the other two men remained in custody on Tuesday morning.
A PSNI statement said: “We are treating this report as a sectarian-motivated hate crime and we are keen to hear from anyone who was in the area at the time and noticed what happened.”
