29 May 1997 Edition
Mother forced to flee
By Mick Naughton.
A young mother forced to flee her Derry home last Sunday 25 May joined a long list of those targeted by sectarian gangs. Like a north Belfast family also attacked at the weekend, 23 year old Sharon Ferguson is the victim of loyalism. She is now living at a secret location with her four year old daughter.
The attack on Ferguson's home started when two masked men, armed with cudgels, forced their way into her Heron Way home at 12.30am last Sunday. A week earlier a brick was thrown through the living room window of her home in the loyalist Clooney housing estate in the Waterside.
``I heard a noise and thought another brick had been thrown. Then two masked men carrying batons came into the room shouting `Get out, fenian scum. I pleaded with them not to hurt the baby,'' she said.
Newly elected Sinn Fein councillor for Derry's Waterside, Lynn Fleming described those involved as ``sectarian thugs''. She added that the attack was the latest on nationalists in the Waterside. Earlier this year, loyalists attacked the few remaining nationalist homes in the Clooney estate. During one attack a householder saw a masked gunman outside his home; he fled after his gun appeared to jam and a bullet was subsequently found at the scene.
``It is an orchestrated campaign by loyalists to force Catholics from the area,'' continued Fleming. Ms Ferguson's parents' home was attacked by loyalists five years ago and all her brothers moved to the West Bank following that attack.
Around the same time as the Waterside attack Bernadette Reilly, a mother of five told how her Wyndam Street home in North Belfast was attacked by loyalists at 4.am on Sunday morning, for the second time in a week.
``I was so afraid that I just froze. After last week's attack I couldn't sleep. They must have been watching because I had only switched the lights off and was standing in the kitchen when I heard the bang,'' she said.
Last week two of Reilly's young children had a lucky escape when their bedroom window was smashed; this week it was the living room. Lauren, (4) and Paul (8) were asleep when loyalists attacked last week. Sunday's attack is the sixth on her home since last July. Around the corner dozens of Catholic families were forced out of their homes in the Torrens area and an Irish language nursery school was also the target of loyalists.
• An Phoblacht has received reports of attempts to kidnap nationalists walking alone in the Lower Falls and New Lodge areas. In separate incidents reported to Sinn Féin five nationalists told how they were almost abducted by roaming loyalists in incidents reminiscent of the Shankill Butcher gang.
One young New Lodge Road man who was almost bundled into a car near Trainfield Street told of his frightening experience.
``I was walking down the street when a car pulled up and I was asked directions. As I leaned over a man grabbed me by the arm and tried to get me into the car. I fought him off and ran back up the street to a taxi depot. The next day I heard the same happened on the Antrim Road near Girdwood barracks. God help anybody they get. That's the last time I'm walking alone while these thugs are about.''
A young mother forced to flee her Derry home last Sunday 25 May joined a long list of those targeted by sectarian gangs. Like a north Belfast family also attacked at the weekend, 23 year old Sharon Ferguson is the victim of loyalism. She is now living at a secret location with her four year old daughter.
The attack on Ferguson's home started when two masked men, armed with cudgels, forced their way into her Heron Way home at 12.30am last Sunday. A week earlier a brick was thrown through the living room window of her home in the loyalist Clooney housing estate in the Waterside.
``I heard a noise and thought another brick had been thrown. Then two masked men carrying batons came into the room shouting `Get out, fenian scum. I pleaded with them not to hurt the baby,'' she said.
Newly elected Sinn Fein councillor for Derry's Waterside, Lynn Fleming described those involved as ``sectarian thugs''. She added that the attack was the latest on nationalists in the Waterside. Earlier this year, loyalists attacked the few remaining nationalist homes in the Clooney estate. During one attack a householder saw a masked gunman outside his home; he fled after his gun appeared to jam and a bullet was subsequently found at the scene.
``It is an orchestrated campaign by loyalists to force Catholics from the area,'' continued Fleming. Ms Ferguson's parents' home was attacked by loyalists five years ago and all her brothers moved to the West Bank following that attack.
Around the same time as the Waterside attack Bernadette Reilly, a mother of five told how her Wyndam Street home in North Belfast was attacked by loyalists at 4.am on Sunday morning, for the second time in a week.
``I was so afraid that I just froze. After last week's attack I couldn't sleep. They must have been watching because I had only switched the lights off and was standing in the kitchen when I heard the bang,'' she said.
Last week two of Reilly's young children had a lucky escape when their bedroom window was smashed; this week it was the living room. Lauren, (4) and Paul (8) were asleep when loyalists attacked last week. Sunday's attack is the sixth on her home since last July. Around the corner dozens of Catholic families were forced out of their homes in the Torrens area and an Irish language nursery school was also the target of loyalists.
• An Phoblacht has received reports of attempts to kidnap nationalists walking alone in the Lower Falls and New Lodge areas. In separate incidents reported to Sinn Féin five nationalists told how they were almost abducted by roaming loyalists in incidents reminiscent of the Shankill Butcher gang.
One young New Lodge Road man who was almost bundled into a car near Trainfield Street told of his frightening experience.
``I was walking down the street when a car pulled up and I was asked directions. As I leaned over a man grabbed me by the arm and tried to get me into the car. I fought him off and ran back up the street to a taxi depot. The next day I heard the same happened on the Antrim Road near Girdwood barracks. God help anybody they get. That's the last time I'm walking alone while these thugs are about.''