Loyalist no 'cross-community' worker

Sinn Féin in Derry has dismissed claims by the mouthpiece of the UDA, the Ulster Political Research Group (UPRG), that a well-known loyalist spotted in the Bogside area is a 'cross community worker'.

An Phoblacht reported last week how the loyalist, from the Waterside area, had been spotted on several occasions close to the homes of a number of prominent republicans and places where republican meet.

Derry UPRG representative David Nicholl had claimed the person seen last week in the Bogside area was actually a cross community worker carrying out community work in the area.

"This is going to have an effect on the ongoing cross-community work in Derry," he said

However, Sinn Féin rejected Nicholl's explanation. "This man is certainly no cross-community worker and is known to be extremely militant in his anti-nationalist views and his presence in the Bogside corresponds with the upsurge in unionist paramiliatry violence across the North," said a spokesperson.