Litany of sectarian attacks

A psychiatric nurse has said he is considering leaving his home in the mainly loyalist Fountain Street estate after it was attacked a number of times over the 12th weekend.

Since Martin Brolly moved in six months ago, his house has borne the brunt of sectarian attacks. He says the last six weeks have been a nightmare. The front of the house has been attacked with paint bombs and a number of windows have been broken.

Brolly said when the sectarian thugs set fire to his car and when he went into the street to challenge them, they shouted down from Derry Walls, "You Fenian bastards, no taigs here mate".

Brolly said he and his flatmate would be prepared to remain in the area if local loyalist community representatives could get the attacks stopped.

"We spoke to a community worker in the Fountain about our situation and he told us nobody listens to him, people are behaving like fascists."

A 22-year-old Catholic man is preparing to leave his home on Burnthill Gardens in Glengormley, County Antrim, after loyalists attacked his home with bricks and paintbombs on Thursday night 15 July, breaking windows and vandalising his car.

Meanwhile, Catholics living in the Tates Avenue area of South Belfast say they fear things could end up like Whitehall Square, after a number of Catholic homes and cars were attacked over the 12th weekend.

Catholic students, young professionals and ethnic minorities moved into Tates Avenue and the surrounding area after investment by property developers, changing the religious makeup of the area.

In May this year, loyalists protested outside the Whitehall Square apartment block in Sandy Row and racist and anti-Catholic graffiti was daubed on the walls of the flats, while residents were threatened by loyalist mobs.

Also, a number of cars belonging to Catholics were vandalised by loyalists in the Elmfield Road area of Glengormley at the weekend.