UVF orchestrating racist attacks in Belfast, Policing Board told

» Mark Moloney

'The attacks have a deeply unpleasant taste of a bit of ethnic cleansing' - PSNI Assistant Chief Constable

THE Policing Board has been told that the Ulster Volunteer Forces (UVF) is responsible for orchestrating a string of racist attakcs in south and east Belfast.

PSNI Assistant Chief Constable Will Kerr said the attacks have contributed significantly to a 70% increase in racist attacks in Belfast and have a "deeply unpleasant taste of a bit of ethnic cleansing".

The UVF's political-wing, the Progressive Unionist Party (PUP), which has been to the forefront of the recent Union flag protests in Belfast, has not commented on the statement.

East Belfast Sinn Féin Councillor Niall Ó Donnghaile said:

"Racism and sectarianism are two sides of the same coin. It needs to be faced down and it needs stomped out."

The comments came just days after the other main loyalist paramilitary group, the Ulster Defence Association, rampaged through the town of Larne, attacking a number of people with hammers and baseball bats, and damaging property.