6 April 2000 Edition

Resize: A A A Print

Young mother under loyalist threat

A West Belfast mother fears for her children's lives following the revelation that her Twinbrook address is on a loyalist hit list.

Tracey McLaughlin was informed by the RUC last Friday, 31 March, that a previous tenant's name with her Broom Park address, where Tracey has lived for the past seven years, has been identified on a UDA hit list document.

The devastated young woman said she is now considering leaving the area for fear that she and her family will be the target of a loyalist hit squad.

``You cannot take this information as anything other than a threat to your life,'' she said, ``as at the end of the day it is my address on the list, even though it is not my name.''

The McLaughlin home became a fortress following the news. ``We pulled the car right up to the front door and literally barricaded ourselves in so that no-one could gain entry,'' she said.

Up to five Twinbrook residents were informed last week that their addresses were on the UDA list and Councillor Sue Ramsey has urged the local community to exercise extra vigilance.

``The information contained in these files represents a serious and disturbing threat to the Catholic population of this area,'' she said.

``The lives of families such as Tracey McLaughlin's have been turned upside down by discoveries such as this'', said Ramsey.

 

Loyalists target Sinn Féin representative



Sinn Féin Assembly member Dara O'Hagan is being actively targeted by loyalists.

The Upper Bann Assembly member was contacted by the RUC on Wednesday afternoon, 5 April, and told she was being targeted. The RUC, however, refused to give O'Hagan any further information.

Disclosing that she has been twice blocked from admission to the Key Persons Protection Scheme, O'Hagan accused the RUC of ``denying her entry to the scheme.

The worry for nationalists in the North Armagh area is that loyalists are once again, ``upping the ante in the run up to Drumcree'', she told An Phoblacht.

 

LVF linked to neo-nazis



BY DEIRDRE FEEHAN

Information detailing links between the LVF and British neo-nazis were found in the house of a former RIR soldier charged two weeks ago with possession of weapons and explosives.

The names, addresses and telephone numbers of members of the neo-nazi group Combat 18, along with details of its links to the LVF, were found during a search of the Armagh home of Ian Thompson, who was questioned about the 1999 murder of Lurgan solicitor Rosemary Nelson.

Along with the personal details of Combat 18 members, including their leader Bill Browning, a former British soldier from south London, scores of race-hate CDs were found. The CDs of racist skinhead bands were being sold to raise money in Britain for the LVF. Browning has a conviction for assaulting a gay man and another for distributing race hate material.

Thompson was the LVF's main link with Combat 18. He went to Wigan in 1998 for an event organised by Combat 18 which almost degenerated into war between rival factions of the fascist group. Members from North-East England protested at Thompson's plan to bring along an LVF-aligned flute band to play at the function.

The North-East branch of Combat 18, organised principally around a core of Sunderland soccer hooligans, are supporters of the Ulster Defence Association. When they learnt that an LVF-allied band was to play, they threatened to disrupt the event.

The investigation into Combat 18's connections to the LVF will focus on a nucleus of English fascists based in North-West England, particularly a group in Bolton. They include a tattooist who regularly visits the Six Counties to engrave the image of the dead LVF leader Billy Wright onto local loyalists.

Thompson invited Browning, along with 24 other neo-nazis, to the LVF's stronghold of Portadown last summer during the marching season where Browning met with the LVF leader in the area. While staying in Portadown, members of the group attacked a Chinese family living in the staunchly loyalist Corcrain estate.

Combat 18 have in the past been linked to the UDA. The UDA's gunrunning operations in Britain were severely compromised due to their connections with the neo-nazi group, which was then led by Charlie Sergeant who was working as an informer for the Metropolitan police.

Last year, it was revealed that Sergeant had been allowed to carry out racist attacks in London while working as an informant for the Metropolitan Police. Sergeant was recruited to spy on UDA members in London involved in smuggling arms to the Six Counties. Sergeant has since been jailed for life.

One of the UDA's English members, who was arrested on arms charges in the early `90s, was Frank Portanari. Now out of jail, Portanari heads a pro-loyalist campaign group in London called the British/Ulster Alliance.

 

Loyalists vandalise memorial



By Deirdre Feehan

A memorial dedicated to a Bellaghy man assassinated by the LVF has been defaced with sectarian graffiti.

Residents of the County Derry village say the memorial, erected in memory of GAA stalwart Sean Brown, was daubed with the letters UVF. As efforts were made to remove the offending slogan, one Bellaghy resident said everyone was shocked and saddened by the graffiti.

On 13 May 1997, Sean Brown, chairman of Bellaghy GAA club and from a well known sporting family, was locking up the Wolfe Tones GAA club when he was abducted. Less than an hour later, his body was discovered in nearby Randalstown beside his burning car.

Slamming the graffiti attack, Sinn Féin councillor Margaret McKenna said it was a ``sickening thing to do''.

``People are saying this man has been laid to rest and they can't even let him rest in peace. No-one could take offence at the plaque. People are worried now that this will raise tensions.''

 

South Armagh lorry driver escapes loyalist attack



BY DEIRDRE FEEHAN

Lorry driver Joe Lyons, from Forkhill, in South Armagh, believes he was targeted by loyalists near the North Derry town of Coleraine at the end of March.

The South Armagh man says that a motorbike pulled up beside him on the outskirts of the town and a gun was pointed at him, but it failed to fire.

Lyons, accusing loyalists of trying to kill him, says he now fears for his life as he makes deliveries to the area every week.

He says the incident happened as he pulled out of a lay-by outside Coleraine shortly after 10am on Tuesday 28 March. ``This is a regular journey for me. I make deliveries every Tuesday and Thursday to the area.

``I had just pulled out of a lay-by when a motorbike just seemed to come from nowhere and was right up alongside the lorry.

``The next thing, the pillion passenger pulled a gun out from under his jacket and pointed it into the cab - I thought I was dead.''

Lyons said the gunman made a gesture as if to shoot but nothing happened and the motorbike sped off in the direction of Coleraine.

``I still can't believe it happened - it's something you never think will happen to you. My family are still cut up and I am refusing to go back down to Coleraine, which is one of my regular runs.

``As far as I am concerned, it had to be loyalists, as it was very clear the lorry came from South Armagh.

``I want to warn other people because who knows what might happen next time.''

Sinn Féin Assembly member Conor Murphy urged nationalists to be vigilant in the wake of the incident.


An Phoblacht
44 Parnell Sq.
Dublin 1
Ireland