McCann's home attacked again

Fra McCann surveys the damage

West Belfast Sinn Féin Assembly member Fra McCann had his living room window broken after a number of ballbearings were fired at the front of his Lower Falls home.

The attack, in the early hours of Wednesday 21 April, is the second on the Sinn Féin man's home. Speaking to An Phoblacht, McCann said he was at the back of the house when he heard the living room window being hit.

"I immediately ran to the front of the house to see what happened and it was then I saw the hole in the window. Whoever fired these ballbearings was attempting to seriously injure someone. At the minute I don't know whether loyalists or anti-social elements were involved, but it seems to me that both parties are working in conjunction with their paymasters in the PSNI."

McCann noted that "the IMC in their report yesterday made no reference whatsoever to the wave of attacks on the homes of Sinn Féin elected representatives. Given the suspicions around the involvement of the PSNI in supplying information to the attackers, this is not surprising."

Loyalists are believed to have been behind a similar attack on McCann's home earlier this year.

This attack follows on from a similar attack on the home of Sinn Féin Councillor Paul Butler by loyalists last weekend for the third time in a matter of months.

Butler was at his West Belfast home with his family around 10pm on Easter Sunday night when loyalists drove past and fired a shot at the front room window, causing damage to the reinforced window.

Butler's home was attacked by loyalists in December 2003 and in January this year with ball bearings. Sectarian graffiti attacking Butler was also painted on walls in the loyalist Seymour Hill.

Meanwhile, Colin Safer Neighbourhood Project spokesperson, Dominic Hyland, says "sinister elements" were behind a ball-bearing attack on the windows of his Twinbrook home on Tuesday evening, 13 April — the same day that Hyland had appeared on a BBC News Report to discuss the Safer Neighbourhood Project's ongoing success. The attack left two holes in Hyland's front window, one shot penetrating the double-glazing.

Hyland says he believes he was targeted because he had spoken out against anti-social behaviour in the area.