Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
‘We’ll take a closer Lough at who books our hotel..’
‘Altercation’ at far-right party event
A LUXURY hotel said it will “increase due diligence” on private events after a conference held by a far-right political party was the scene of a “large altercation”.
A man was arrested and six people were injured as a result of the incident at the Lough Erne Resort, near Enniskillen, Co Fermanagh, on Sunday.
Far-right Irish political group the National Party was hosting an event when police say it was disrupted by a protestors.
A spokesman for the five-star Resort described the incident as “deeply regrettable” adding staff had been shocked by what they had seen.
He said function rooms were hired out “in good faith” and the hiring out of private event space by any third party did not represent an endorsement of any kind. The source added: “As with any type of booking, as a commercial entity, we accept private conference bookings from around the world in good faith.
“We do not facilitate or tolerate behaviour of this type at the resort.
“The health and safety of our staff and guests, along with our guest experience is paramount and we will therefore be increasing our levels of due diligence in relation to private conference bookings in the future.”
Guests were unable to check into their rooms as a result of Sunday’s altercation, but the National Party conference resumed a short time afterwards.
In a speech made at the conference following the incident, the party’s deputy leader James Reynolds said it was a “criminal attack” carried out by “red
Communist thugs”. A senior PSNI officer said: ““Officers attended and calm was restored a short time later.
“Two people were treated at the scene for their injuries with a further four taken to hospital with injuries which are not believed to be life-threatening at this time.
“A 34-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of criminal damage and possession of an offensive weapon in a public place.
“He remains in police custody at this time.
“Our enquiries are ongoing and I would appeal to anyone who has any information in relation to this incident to contact police on 101, quoting reference 899 13/11/22.”