Squatters break into houses in flashpoint NI town
Squatters have used diggers to break into heavily-barricaded homes in a flashpoint area of Northern Ireland, it emerged today.
Housing chiefs have put security guards around another four empty properties in Holywood, Co Down, amid fears that associates of the men are planning to move in.
The authorities have also launched a legal bid to force them out.
A Housing Executive spokeswoman said: “By taking the law into their own hands, these people are riding roughshod over those who need housing.”
Tensions heightened in Holywood last month following a bomb attack on a house as part of the terrorist turf war that left one man dead.
Even though the rival Ulster Volunteer Force and Loyalist Volunteer Force settled their feud, trouble flared in the village this week.
The Executive tried to keep houses in the Loughview Estate safe after it was alerted to squatting plans by people linked to the violence.
“In the course of this work, contractors were threatened. We understand that that on Monday evening a digger, taken from a nearby site, was used to remove steel shutters from two properties.
“These properties were subsequently illegally occupied.”
Two men are believed to have moved into the family homes.
The Executive came under fire during the feud when families forced to flee were put up in the Belfast Hilton hotel.
With no powers to force the men out, moves are under way in the courts to secure a possession of property order.
