Letter threatens ‘Orangemen’

February 1998

A letter which threatens retaliation against ‘Orangemen’ in the Greystones/Delgany area, was the subject of a garda investigation this week.

And police were treating the letter, which purports to be from ‘the Catholic REaction Force’, with caution, although they say that there is every possibility that it is a hoax.

The letter was received at the offices of the Bray People late last week and was immediately forwarded to gardai.

It was removed for forensic examination, the results of which were being awaited this week.

The handwritten letter claims that ‘reprisals will be directed against members of the Dublin/Wicklow Orange Lodge’ if Orangemen, the UFF, or the LVF carry out any further attacks against Catholics, or against other targets in the Republic.

The author states that local Orangemen attend parades in the north, and says that ‘there is a nest of covert Orangemen in the Greystones/ Delgany area’.

Because of the nature of the threat and the current tense political climate, it is understood that the gardai are treating the matter seriously.