Call for stronger condemnation of loyalist violence
SDLP leader Mark Durkan has called on unionist leaders to speak out stronger against loyalist paramilitaries and their ongoing sectarian campaign against Catholics.
Speaking at a public meeting in a Belfast Presbyterian church last night, Mr Durkan said unionists should make it clear that they are not prepared to tolerate loyalist paramilitaries in the same urgent and unequivocal terms they use to condemn republican paramilitaries.
He also said that unionist politicians should cease trying to justify loyalist violence by claiming republican provocation and should stop underplaying the seriousness of the relentless sectarian campaign against vulnerable and innocent Catholics.
The SDLP leader said such moves from unionists would help them gain the confidence of nationalists.
