Unionist leaders 'must condemn attacks on Catholics'
Unionist politicians were urged by a senior politician in the Republic today to take a strong line against sectarian attacks on Catholic homes in Northern Ireland.
Liz McManus, deputy leader of the Labour Party, said recent petrol and paint bomb attacks on Catholic homes and property in north Antrim had all the hallmarks of an ethnic cleansing campaign by loyalists.
The Wicklow TD said: “Local unionist politicians cannot equivocate on this.
“They must be equally trenchant in their criticisms of loyalist violence as they are about republican paramilitaries.
“They must also use all their power to get the attacks to stop.
“I appeal particularly to the representatives of political parties connected to loyalist paramilitary groups to demand that this organised campaign against the Catholic community ends immediately.”
Sinn Féin and the nationalist SDLP in Northern Ireland have also criticised the response of some unionist leaders to the attacks on Catholic homes, churches and schools in Ahoghill, Cloughmills, Martinstown and Ballymena.
SDLP leader Mark Durkan yesterday accused Democratic Unionist leader the Rev Ian Paisley of failing to address the problem in his own constituency.
The North Antrim MP, who has been on holiday during the recent upsurge in attacks, hit back last night at Mr Durkan’s claims.
“Last week when the mayor (DUP councillor Tommy Nicholl) unreservedly condemned any and all such attacks, he spoke with the authority of my party and it goes without saying that I too condemn these attacks and call for them to end,” Mr Paisley said.
Presbyterian clergymen in Ahoghill have issued a statement expressing revulsion at the attacks and their support for the besieged Catholic community there.
Church of Ireland Archbishop Robin Eames has also issued strong condemnation.
With a bloody loyalist paramilitary feud also claiming the lives of four people in Belfast in recent weeks, Ms McManus noted a number of high profile loyalist politicians with links to the Ulster Volunteer Force and the Ulster Defence Association had been indulged in recent years by the Irish political establishment.
She told them: “It is about time some return on this investment was realised and they started using their influence over their paramilitary colleagues for the wider public good.”
