Sinn Féin protesting against UDR monument planned for Lisburn

25/08/2006 - 15:13:45
In the North, Sinn Féin is protesting against a decision by a local council to build a memorial to the Ulster Defence Regiment.

The party said nationalists feared and hated the UDR and its members were suspected of colluding in murder.

The UDR was seen by many nationalists as a modern day equivalent to the Black and Tans.

For unionists, the regiment was a bulwark against IRA violence.

Lisburn Council, already under fire for flying the union flag at its offices 365 days a year, is planning a monument to honour UDR men murdered in the Troubles.

The mayor of Lisburn has now agreed to meet the family of Michael Power, a daily communicant, who was threatened by UDR members before being murdered on his way to chapel.

Police questioned members of the UDR but they were never charged although the family claim there was collusion.