UDA members behind North Belfast attacks

Le Padraig MacDabhaid

Sinn Fein Assembly member for North Belfast Gerry Kelly has said that attacks on Catholic homes in the area, ``is part of an organised campaign to drive Catholics out the area''.

The attacks have been taking place throughout the North of the city but have been particularly focused on the Graymount area, an area which once had a 40% Catholic population but is set to reach zero. Originally there was almost 90 Catholic families on the estate, today that number is down to 25 families, most of whom are awaiting transfer out of the area.

This last week saw a spate of attacks in the area, the first of which occurred on Friday 5 March when petrol was poured through the letter boxes of two houses and set alight causing fires in both houses. The houses were occupied by Catholic women and have been attacked on previous occasions, one of them four times before.

The night before these attacks the home of a 33 year old woman was attacked by a loyalist pipe bomb. The woman who lives on Torrens Crescent off the Cliftonville Road in North Belfast, near the peaceline, is now pleading to be rehoused.

Then on Monday 8 March as a Catholic family were moving furniture at their home after to renovations Loyalists phoned in a bomb warning forcing the Catholic family to evacuate the area.

A number of Catholic taxi drivers, those who usually bear the brunt of loyalist death squad activity in North Belfast, have also received death threats, as have two fast food outlets

Both Gerry Kelly and Sinn Fein councillor Danny Lavery have repeated their call to loyalist politicians to use their influence to halt such attacks. Danny Lavery told AP/RN, ``local loyalist figures are widely known to be organising and carrying out these attacks''.

Kelly also attacked the idea that these groups are merely dissidents saying, ``referring to these groups as dissidents is designed to minimise the threat they pose. It is common knowledge in the area that the UDA is orchestrating this campaign of intimidation''.

Unionist and community leaders in these areas must realise that they have a responsibility to their Catholic neighbours.

Kelly concluded by saying, ``it appears that the fellow travellers of the `No' camp of unionism within the loyalist terror groups are determined to fill the political vacuum created by David Trimble's failure to implement the agreement with a sectarian campaign aimed at Catholics living in vulnerable areas''.

Meanwhile, community workers are hoping for a large turnout at a peaceful white line picket which has been organised for Saturday 13 March at 3pm on the Lower Whitewell Road to highlight the sectarian attacks and threats on nationalists in the Whitewell and Greencastle area.