Attack follows meeting with Dublin officials

Dublin Government officials have told Sinn Féin Councillor Paul Butler they are willing to visit nationalist families throughout the Lisburn area who have been targeted in attacks by unionist paramilitaries.

Butler was part of a Sinn Féin delegation that met the officials last Tuesday 7 October, to brief them on the continued campaign of sectarian attacks on nationalists homes, schools and Catholic chapels throughout Lisburn.

The Sinn Féin delegation urged the Irish officials to get the Dublin Government to bring the issue to the attention of the British Government. They explained that Catholic businesses and homes in Dunmurry Village, Stoneyford Village and throughout the Lisburn area have been targeted by known Stoneyford loyalists who are said to be key members of the Orange Volunteers. Indeed, the loyalists involved were linked to a huge cache of crown forces intelligence files found in Stoneyford Orange Hall a number of years ago.

The Sinn Féin rep pointed out to the Dublin officials that the PSNI have failed to protect the Catholic community, saying that in the last five years, despite numerous anti-Catholic attacks, "very few, if any, of those responsible have been arrested or charged with any offence".

Within hours of the meeting, the home of a Protestant pensioner married to a Catholic was once again attacked by loyalists. The couple were in the kitchen of their Ballybog Road home in Dunmurry at 11.40pm when they heard a bang as rocks hit the conservatory window. Then paint bombs were hurled onto the roof, splattering it on both sides with white paint.

In the past, petrol bombs and fireworks have been hurled at the house.