15 January 1998 Edition
Attacks on massgoers
In an echo of the sustained loyalist picket of the Harryville Church, St Patrick's Church and St Patricks Social Club in Portadown have become a new focus for attacks on Catholics.
The premises are close to the spot where Robert Hamill was murdered last year by a gang of loyalist thugs, yards from an RUC landrover.
The attacks started last October, when fireworks were thrown into the Church, which has also been daubed with sectarian LVF graffiti. Youths have burst into it during Mass to pelt massgoers with eggs and spit into the Holy water.
Reports of gangs of 12-14 year old youths, including a large number of young girls, point to the attitudes that are being fostered within the predominantly Protestant town.
Independent nationalist Councillor Breandan Mac Cionnaith, told An Phoblacht that while the media picked up on the story, most reports failed to highlight the fact that St Patricks Church sits inside the RUC's security ring.
``If teenagers can run riot within this RUC security ring, what protection would be afforded to massgoers if loyalists with guns had burst into the Church during the novena?'' asked Mac Cionnaith.
He warned nationalists in the Portadown area to be vigilant as known loyalists had been spotted driving around nationalist areas.
The premises are close to the spot where Robert Hamill was murdered last year by a gang of loyalist thugs, yards from an RUC landrover.
The attacks started last October, when fireworks were thrown into the Church, which has also been daubed with sectarian LVF graffiti. Youths have burst into it during Mass to pelt massgoers with eggs and spit into the Holy water.
Reports of gangs of 12-14 year old youths, including a large number of young girls, point to the attitudes that are being fostered within the predominantly Protestant town.
Independent nationalist Councillor Breandan Mac Cionnaith, told An Phoblacht that while the media picked up on the story, most reports failed to highlight the fact that St Patricks Church sits inside the RUC's security ring.
``If teenagers can run riot within this RUC security ring, what protection would be afforded to massgoers if loyalists with guns had burst into the Church during the novena?'' asked Mac Cionnaith.
He warned nationalists in the Portadown area to be vigilant as known loyalists had been spotted driving around nationalist areas.