17 April 1997 Edition
Tension high after shooting
There is concern among the beleaguered nationalists of the Bawnmore estate in North Belfast following clashes between nationalists and the RUC during which an RUC DMSU beat young nationalists.
The incident followed last week's loyalist shooting of Ciaran Delaney, 21, who was shot in the neck by a loyalist gunman on Wednesday 9 April and who has only now been removed from the critical list at the RVH. Delaney had been targeted by Loyalists two weeks previously, but on that occasion their gun jammed. The RUC informed Delaney when he reported the incident that he was being ``paranoid''.
According to a resident who spoke to An Phoblacht nationalist youths in Bawnmore, frustrated at the RUC's lack of concern following the attempted sectarian murder bid, stoned the RUC. The man who spoke to us was leaving a local bar when he was approached by a DMSU member and beaten around the legs with a baton, leaving him with severe bruising. A 19 year old woman, her mother and aunt and a cousin also attempting to leave the scene were beaten by members of the same DMSU squad.
Meanwhile, Jason Mullan, the Catholic victim of a shooting in Ballysally, Coleraine, remains critical in the RVH, Belfast. The RUC are now believed to be keeping an `open mind' on the motive for the gun attack.
The incident followed last week's loyalist shooting of Ciaran Delaney, 21, who was shot in the neck by a loyalist gunman on Wednesday 9 April and who has only now been removed from the critical list at the RVH. Delaney had been targeted by Loyalists two weeks previously, but on that occasion their gun jammed. The RUC informed Delaney when he reported the incident that he was being ``paranoid''.
According to a resident who spoke to An Phoblacht nationalist youths in Bawnmore, frustrated at the RUC's lack of concern following the attempted sectarian murder bid, stoned the RUC. The man who spoke to us was leaving a local bar when he was approached by a DMSU member and beaten around the legs with a baton, leaving him with severe bruising. A 19 year old woman, her mother and aunt and a cousin also attempting to leave the scene were beaten by members of the same DMSU squad.
Meanwhile, Jason Mullan, the Catholic victim of a shooting in Ballysally, Coleraine, remains critical in the RVH, Belfast. The RUC are now believed to be keeping an `open mind' on the motive for the gun attack.
