Catholic man escapes sectarian murder bid

Sectarian tensions have increased in Newtownabbey and North Belfast, where a young man was lucky to escape with his life after he was attacked by two loyalists armed with a machete or large kitchen knife on Sunday 1 February.

Liam Hughes (24), a father of one, was set upon at 7.30am by two men who jumped out of a white Vauxhall Astra car near the Boundary bar on the Shore Road. They attempted to stab their victim repeatedly. Hughes believes he was saved by a passing car, which caused the UDA gang to make off towards the loyalist Rathcoole Estate.

The latest sectarian attack comes in a week when Ulster Unionist Newtownabbey Councillor Ivan Hunter sparked nationalist fury after he raised the possibility of a ban on the public address system used during the Blessing of the graves ceremony at Cairnmoney Cemetery.

Parish priest of St Bernard's, Father Dan White, said he was appalled by the comments. "If we withdraw the public address system we would have to ban the whole thing. How can people scattered about the cemetery listen to the devotions if we stop using the address system? I doubt very much if any of the amplified sound reaches the Rathcoole estate."

Sinn Féin Newtownabbey Councillor Briege Meehan branded the comments "an absolute disgrace".

"There should be freedom of religious expression and to demand a ban of what is a short religious service is a disgrace."

Loyalists have picketed the Catholic service for the past three years and a number of headstones have been damaged.