A police spokesman has confirmed tensions may still be simmering today after they were called to the Brackaville club last night to monitor their annual making of St Brigid’s Crosses which ‘cut up rough‘ according to sources.

An altercation occurred soon after 8pm when three men from Coalisland were accused of sabotaging the rushes by squirting glue on the massed bunch in the middle of the floor. Children were reportedly inconsolable at not being able to get rushes off their hands.

Event organiser Fr Talbot added:

“As soon as I saw them Coalisland lads arriving I knew there’d be trouble. You could smell the drink off them and they were smirking and winking and stuff. I’ve no doubt they were squirting glue on the pile. The ‘Island ones have always been jealous of our cross-making culture.”

Punches were thrown at around 9pm when all 388 crosses were put up for show for the annual ‘Best Cross Award’ which sees the winner receive a 3-night stay at Roughan Castle. Fr Talbot explained:

“It was disgraceful. When we hung them up there were artefacts that definitely were not St Brigid’s Crosses: four were rush swastikas and three were just the 2-finger salute. Another one said ‘Brackaville are cat’ and another one read ‘no to dog litter’. I couldn’t help myself so I knocked out one of the lads with broken chair. It sort of spiralled out of control after that.”

One of the Coalisland 3 was forcibly removed from the scene, shouting ‘yiz are nothing but a bunch of pagans anyway‘ to the bewildered Brackaville contingent.

The making of a Brigid’s Cross is thought be a pre-Christian tradition commemorating the goddess Brigid who was one of the Tuatha Dé Danann. A decision on this will be made tonight in The Ceili House pub between a bunch of local pagans and a clatter of clergy.