Catholic Church leaders meet loyalists

Cardinal Sean Brady

Senior Catholic clerics met with loyalist representatives last week in what has been heralded as a “ground breaking” initiative.
Head of the Catholic Church in Ireland, Cardinal Sean Brady, together with Bishops Noel Treanor and Gerard Clifford, met representatives of the UDA linked Ulster Political Research Group.
After the meeting the Cardinal said he had conveyed “the real fear that exists within the Catholic community about the possibility of future violent activity by loyalist groups”
“We appreciate and are greatly encouraged by the assurances given by the UPRG that there is no going back to the past and that together we are building a new future,” said Cardinal Brady.
A spokesperson for the UPRG, Frankie Gallagher, said that the issue of loyalist decommissioning had not been discussed at the meeting.