2 October 1997 Edition
Calls for calm in North Belfast
By Mick Naughton
North Belfast has 14 separate 'peacelines' scattered over two square miles: high walls separating communities already rife with high unemployment, poverty and social disadvantage. Occasionally trouble flares up at one or another of these 'peacelines', and last weekend the mid-Oldpark area was the flashpoint.
Petrol bombs, bricks, bottles and iron bars were used after an initial burst of trouble on Friday 26 September which was instigated by British paratroopers.
A patrol of three jeeps full of paratroops waved British flags and shouted sectarian abuse at nationalists in Roe, Rosapenna, and Rosevale Streets. Paratroops have been harassing nationalists in North Belfast since their recent deployment to the area.
As nationalist youths reacted to the British soldiers' taunting, coming onto the streets with stones and bottles, the paras withdrew.
It was at this point that some of the youth attacked Protestant homes. Windows were broken and a number of residents injured.
The violence then escalated when, at 4am on Sunday, loyalists using the cover of derelict houses launched petrol bomb attacks on nationalist families living in Rosevale Street. Mother of three Phyllis O'Donoughue said that if not for the metal grilles on her windows, her children would have been burnt to death.
Three petrol bombs aimed at the bedroom window at the back of her home, where two of her children sleep, exploded on the grilles and melted drain pipes.
Widowed mother of three Margaret O'Neill had her windows broken. Her reinforced glass windows were broken twice in the past week, and in other attacks on her home loyalists have used ball bearings, golf balls and large pieces of concrete. At one point a crossbow was used and her children have not slept in their home for the past three weeks.
"Last night was the worst ever," she said. "The situation has grown worse since the early summer around the time of Drumcree." Mrs O'Neill now worries her windows will not be replaced by the Housing Executive, a fear taken up by local Sinn Féin councillor Bobby Lavery.
"I am contacting everyone involved in this potentially fatal situation," he told An Phoblacht. "I would appeal for the youngsters on the nationalist side not to become involved in mimicking the loyalist attackers. All they are doing is endangering themselves and the residents living closest to the walls.
"I would also call on other councillors on the loyalist side to use their influence to calm things down. I would also applaud the response by community workers on the nationalist side who went down to the two houses on the loyalist side and offered to put money towards the cost for replacing broken windows," he said.
North Belfast has 14 separate 'peacelines' scattered over two square miles: high walls separating communities already rife with high unemployment, poverty and social disadvantage. Occasionally trouble flares up at one or another of these 'peacelines', and last weekend the mid-Oldpark area was the flashpoint.
Petrol bombs, bricks, bottles and iron bars were used after an initial burst of trouble on Friday 26 September which was instigated by British paratroopers.
A patrol of three jeeps full of paratroops waved British flags and shouted sectarian abuse at nationalists in Roe, Rosapenna, and Rosevale Streets. Paratroops have been harassing nationalists in North Belfast since their recent deployment to the area.
As nationalist youths reacted to the British soldiers' taunting, coming onto the streets with stones and bottles, the paras withdrew.
It was at this point that some of the youth attacked Protestant homes. Windows were broken and a number of residents injured.
The violence then escalated when, at 4am on Sunday, loyalists using the cover of derelict houses launched petrol bomb attacks on nationalist families living in Rosevale Street. Mother of three Phyllis O'Donoughue said that if not for the metal grilles on her windows, her children would have been burnt to death.
Three petrol bombs aimed at the bedroom window at the back of her home, where two of her children sleep, exploded on the grilles and melted drain pipes.
Widowed mother of three Margaret O'Neill had her windows broken. Her reinforced glass windows were broken twice in the past week, and in other attacks on her home loyalists have used ball bearings, golf balls and large pieces of concrete. At one point a crossbow was used and her children have not slept in their home for the past three weeks.
"Last night was the worst ever," she said. "The situation has grown worse since the early summer around the time of Drumcree." Mrs O'Neill now worries her windows will not be replaced by the Housing Executive, a fear taken up by local Sinn Féin councillor Bobby Lavery.
"I am contacting everyone involved in this potentially fatal situation," he told An Phoblacht. "I would appeal for the youngsters on the nationalist side not to become involved in mimicking the loyalist attackers. All they are doing is endangering themselves and the residents living closest to the walls.
"I would also call on other councillors on the loyalist side to use their influence to calm things down. I would also applaud the response by community workers on the nationalist side who went down to the two houses on the loyalist side and offered to put money towards the cost for replacing broken windows," he said.