Leading Sinn Féin members warned of death threats

North Antrim MLA Philip McGuigan has received two death threats in the past week

The Red Hand Defenders, a cover name for the UDA, has issued death threats against four leading Sinn Féin members, including European election candidate Bairbre de Brún.

And in a separate development, three Sinn Féin activists from Kilrea in County Derry were told by the PSNI they were under threat from loyalists.

The threat was issued after the pair carried out a party canvass for the European election in the Coleraine area.

On Tuesday night 18 May, a caller to the BBC, using a recognised code word, warned that the Sinn Féin members would be killed within 24 hours. The caller also warned that Leinster House in Dublin would be attacked.

The PSNI visited Sinn Féin's Bairbre de Brún, Philip McGuigan, Martin Meehan and Raymond McCartney at their homes to warn them of the threat.

Speaking to An Phoblacht, Philip McGuigan revealed that the PSNI warned him on Monday night last that the Loyalist Action Force had also threatened to kill him.

McGuigan has had numerous death threats issued against him in the past while in 2002 one of his children picked up a cassette bomb which had been posted to his North Antrim home.