Three arrested after boat burned out amid row over Tricolour flag

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.

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.”