Reports obtained from:
(1) Irish Republican News, (2) Irish News
Friday-Tuesday, 1-5 September, 2006
Monday-Thursday, 28-31 August, 2006
Friday-Tuesday, 18-22 August, 2006
Monday-Thursday, 14-17 August, 2006
Tuesday, 25 July, 2006
Friday-Tuesday, 1-5 September, 2006
Sectarian provocation in Ballymena
By Irish Republican News
The Parades Commission, which is supposed to adjudicate in disputes over sectarian parades in Catholic areas, has been accused of blithely ignoring breaches of its determinations by Protestant marchers.
Although restrictions had been placed on Saturday night's parade in Balllymena, these were openly flauted by bands linked to unionist paramilitary organisations.
Parade supporters chanted support for the UDA, which has been linked to the sectarian murder of 15-year-old Michael McIlveen in recent months.
There were a number of breaches of the Parades Commission's determination in regard to the playing of music and the display of paramilitary regalia which were designed both to intimidate and insult Catholic residents.
The Ballymena Protestant Boys Band carried UDA, UFF and UYM flags on numerous occasions and carried a bannerette referring to 'South East Antrim', the local UDA batallion area.
There were also a number of other 'kick the pope' sectarian bands that turned up and paraded without any notification or warning.
"The parade supporters gathered across from the chapel, chanting: 'UDA'. This went on all evening, showing everyone what this parade is really about, and it remains totally unacceptable," said Sinn Fein representative Philip McGuigan.
Mr McGuigan said Sinn Fein would present evidence to the Parades Commission of the rule breaking.
Tension has been high in the Ballymena area since the murder of Michael McIlveen.
Friends of the 15-year-old have been warned by the PSNI police that their lives are under threat. There have also been a series of other attacks on Catholics in the area.
Mr McGuigan said: "The bigger picture is obviously that these parades have a long way to go to show nationalists and republicans in the north end of Ballymena that they aren't sectarian, coat-trailing exercises."
He urged the Parades Commission's to go further to "defend the rights and entitlements of nationalists living in the north end of Ballymena".
A police spokesman said: "Police are aware of a number of breaches of the Parades Commission's determination and these will be the subject of further enquiries."
The Parades Commission made no comment on the march.
PSNI INACTION IN BALLYMENA
Meanwhile, a man who believes he was the intended target of a unionist paramilitary petrol-bomb attack on a Ballymena family has given the PSNI the names of the men he believes were responsible.
The 26-year-old, who does not wish to be named, said he was threatened a number of weeks before the attack by three men with UDA connections.
The same gang has been blamed for three petrol-bomb attacks on Catholic families in the north of the town.
Sinn Fein and the SDLP have asked why no-one has been arrested now that the PSNI are in possession of these new facts.
They have also questioned how people armed with petrol bombs were able to enter residential areas - particularly the Dunclug estate where there is a visible police presence - and attack homes without being caught.
The UDA gang has carried out three sectarian petrol-bomb attacks in the town in recent weeks.
There has also been strong criticism of an apparent sectarian attack on a Protestant woman in the town.
After a petrol-bomb attack on the home of Jackie McGuire graffiti saying 'CRF attack' appeared in the area -- a reference to a non-existent group, the 'Catholic Reaction Force'. Local nationalist and republican representatives have strongly condemned the attack.
Monday-Thursday, 28-31 August, 2006
Summer marches end without violence
By Irish Republican News
The summer marching season ended last weekend without serious trouble during the annual 'Last Saturday' marches by the 'Blackmen' of the Protestant Royal Black Order.
In west Tyrone, nationalists were angered when they the local unionist representative made obscene gestures to nationalists during the Royal Black Preceptory parade in Castlederg.
Local residents from nationalist areas at one end of the town were protesting a decision by the Parades Commission decision to allow four sectarian parades through the area on Saturday.
And in contravention of the Parades Commission determination, the Castlederg Young Loyalist Flute Band stopped and loudly played 'The Sash' at the entrance to the nationalist Priest's Lane.
The Ulster Unionist Party's Derek Hussey then seemed to give "the middle finger" to nationalists and directed a stream of obscene language towards protestors.
Castlederg Sinn Fein councillor Charlie McHugh described the incident as "sectarian coat-trailing at its worst" and accused Hussey of being "at the heart of attempts to provoke a response from nationalist protesters".
"Not only did Derek Hussey stand beside the band while they put on this provocative display but he then went on to shout obscenities and made obscene gestures.
"We also had hangers-on coming through the Priest's Lane once again in contravention of the Parades Commission determination and a Young Citizens' Volunteer banner - junior wing of the UVF - being carried."
A number of other contentious parades, including in Aughnacloy, County Tyrone and east Belfast, passed off without trouble, although the east Belfast procession broke a Parades' Commission determination by playing music as it passed St Matthew's Church at Short Strand.
Several bands played hymns as they went past the church with one playing the Sash.
Sinn Fein councillor Paul Maskey said the parade had caused offence.
"As soon as they got to the chapel, they started to play music, yet they had observed silence as they passed their own memorial on the other side of the road," he said.
The question of parades passing Short Strand needed to be urgently addressed, Mr Maskey said.
"Parades are going to be passing that area right up to December," he said.
"The organisers need to be talking to the residents of Short Strand."
The Six Counties enjoyed such a quiet marching season thanks largely to "a lot of hard work from local communities", Mr Maskey said.
"It hasn't always been easy, but the credit must go to the residents and residents' groups who have done so much that things have been kept peaceful.
"The loyal orders need to take responsibility and start dialogue with residents.'
Friday-Tuesday, 18-22 August, 2006
Loyalist intimidation, PSNI violence
By Irish Republican News
The Police Ombudsman has been asked to investigate the assault of a Sinn Fein politician by the PSNI police at a weekend loyalist parade.
On Friday, residents in the County Antrim village of Rasharkin endured a night of intimidation by gangsters carrying the flags and symbols of unionist murder gangs and death squads.
Thirty-five bands, many with connections to the paramilitary UDA and UVF, and more than 1,000 "supporters" marched through the predominantly nationalist village.
Prominent north Antrim loyalist Christopher 'Goosey' Gray, led one of the bands, while others displayed tributes to dead paramilitaries Geoffrey Freeman and William Campbell.
Nationalist residents opposed to the march noted almost 60 breaches of guidelines set down by the Parades Commission, which is supposed to ruie on controversial parades. It was while noting these breaches that Ballymoney councillor Daithi McKay was assaulted.
Councillor McKay also said PSNI members planned to get a police dog to attack him during the contentious march.
"The aggressive policing that was witnessed on Friday night has been reported to the Police Obudsman's office," he said.
"There was no need for attack dogs to be brought up behind residents and it was no surprise when residents witnessed one PSNI member loosen his lead to allow his alsatian dog, which is obvious professionally trained, to attack myself.
"The assault by another PSNI member immediately after this will also be referred to the Ombudsman's office for investigation."
Mr McKay also criticised the Parades Commission for not making a determination on the loyalist parade
"The Parades Commission's decision not to issue a determination on this parade has, as expected, been the wrong one.
"There was intimidation reported by people who were sitting in their homes, obviously fearful of what these hundreds of loyalists could do, if the threatening gestures made were followed through with."
Councillor McKay said that by not placing restrictions on the parade the commission had given "the green light for intimidation, loyalist paramilitary displays and other inexcusable behaviour without any repercussions whatsoever".
One resident, who did not wish to be named, said that a bandsman exposed himself after noticing her filming the parade from a window in her house.
"He saw me filming and started waving, then got out his phone and started videoing me," she said.
"Another fella beside him started doing the same. Then he exposed himself to me."
Mr McKay said the DUP's support of the coat-trailing paramilitary parade was "indicative" of its attitude to sectarian gangs in north Antrim.
"The DUP position of supporting this parade whilst turning a blind eye to the UDA and UVF involvement is an untenable one," he said.
The Sinn Fein councillor also said he intended making a complaint to the Police Ombudsman about "aggressive" policing, adding that he had been assualted by an officer.
"Residents in the village are now in the process of collating the evidence of breaches of the commission decision and code of conduct," Mr McKay said.
"And in the absence of any meaningful dialogue over the next year, this parade clearly needs to be heavily restricted."
Nationalist residents had applied to hold a counter protest of 200 people, but the commission restricted numbers to 100.
Residents are also angry that parade organisers refuse to meet them to discuss their concerns.
CONFUSION OVER STATEMENT
Meanwhile, in an apparently self-contradictory statement, the Parades Commission has said it will no longer accept any group refusing to engage in dialogue over contentious marches.
The ultimatum is seen as a warning to the Orange Order and Royal Black Institution who refuse to talk either to nationalist residents or the commission.
In what is being seen as a hardening of his position, commission chairman Roger Poole warned: "From this autumn onwards we will be seeking an increased drive towards meaningful, local dialogue and accommodation throughout Northern Ireland.
"Where it is clear to us that one side, for whatever reason, is not prepared to engage in dialogue with all protagonists to a particular dispute, that is a factor which will weigh heavily in our consideration of disputed parades going forward."
An Orange Order spokesman reacted angrily to Mr Poole's warning.
"We will not be blackmailed into anything by an unelected and discredited quango," he said.
"The order will review our position as we do every year but we certainly won't be pushed around by anyone."
Nationalist residents' spokesman Brendan Mac Cionnaith was sceptical about whether the commission would follow through on its warning.
"Throughout the marching season the loyal orders refused to engage in dialogue over dozens of contentious marches but were still allowed parades," he said.
Sinn Fein accused the Parades Commission of contradicting itself ahead of another controversial Protestant parade.
The commission has allowed next Saturday's parade route by the Royal Black Preceptory in Castlederg, County Tyrone, to include the nationalist areas of the town.
But Sinn Fein councillor Charlie McHugh said the decision was at odds with the Parades Commission's own stance.
"On the one hand we have in these determinations criticism by the Parades Commission of the continued refusal by the Royal Black Preceptory to sit down with local nationalist residents and discuss the vexed issue of parades through continuous routes in Castlederg.
"On the other hand the Parades Commission go on to reward this refusal to talk by giving the Royal Black Preceptory permission to march through the nationalist Priests Lane, Ferguson Crescent area... four times in total next Saturday," he said.
Friday-Tuesday, 18-22 August, 2006
Attempted mass murder
By Irish Republican News
A couple and their three-month-old baby have been forced from their home in north Belfast following an arson attack on Sunday.
A loyalist gang from the White City area of north Belfast tried to burn down the home of Mickey Magennis in the Whitewell district.
His girlfriend, Juanita Magennis, and 12-week-old baby daughter Mollie narrowly escaped injury in the blaze that left the house extensively damaged.
Mr Magennis said his family is lucky to be alive and is now considering moving out of the area.
"We only moved into the house in February. We have a mortgage and are trying to make a life, and then something like this happens," he said.
"This could have been much worse. My girlfriend woke up when she heard the window smashing. If she had not got up both her and the baby would have burned to death."
Firefighters who battled the blaze said the flames were 20 feet high when they arrived.
Station Commander Mark Beresford said the Magennis family was fortunate to escape.
"I think they were alerted fairly early on. One of the neighbours knocked the door and at the same time, the windows started to smash so the woman and the child were able to get out fairly quickly," he said.
"They were fairly lucky, if it had been much longer this could have been a tragedy."
Last year three homes in the same area suffered severe damage in a sectarian arson attack. Loyalists set light to an oil tank at the rear of a property which spread to neighbouring houses.
Sinn Fein councillor Tierna Cunningham accused the loyalist gang of attempted murder.
"They are a young couple with a young baby, trying to make a start in life, and this type of thing, in this day and age, is not on," she said.
She said that while most of the summer had been quiet in the area, there had been a "flare-up" of trouble in recent weeks, with sectarian assaults and death threats.
"It is just so disappointing because there had been dialogue and things were quiet," she said.
Monday-Thursday, 14-17 August, 2006
Weekend of sectarian violence
By Irish Republican News
Some of the worst rioting in north Belfast in months took place last Sunday night.
Trouble broke out in the North Queen Street area after stone-throwing throughout the day.
At its height, more than 50 people were involved.
Sinn Fein councillor Caral Ni Chuilin said the trouble started when a group of men from the loyalist Tiger's Bay ran into the nationalist New Lodge area armed with golf clubs and stones.
"This was particularly sinister because the violence was orchestrated.
It was well organised," she said.
She also said that there were no community representatives on the ground who were available to help calm the situation.
Meanwhile, a Catholic couple have been attacked for a third time in recent months in a sectarian attack in County Armagh.
The couple's home, in Greenfields estate in Armagh city, and car were attacked in the latest incident.
Sectarian graffiti was daubed on the fence at the rear of the property, while the front window of the house, and the car windscreen, were smashed.
The attack happened in the early hours of Saturday.
The latest attack comes a month after a loyalist attempted to slit the throat of the mother-of-two, who lives at the house with her boyfriend and their two young children.
The 22-year-old suffered cuts to her face, neck and arms as she fought off a man who attacked her in the back garden of her home, as her two sons, aged four and eight-months, were indoors.
The attack came after a group of loyalist teens had shouted at her in the street that they would "slit your throat while you're asleep".
The woman, who did not want to be identified, said she believed she was targeted because she is a Catholic and from Dublin.
Earlier this month the mother spoke of her fears after finding a death threat written on the back door of the home.
The slogan - 'You're dead Fenian. Bang Bang. You're dead' was written in permanent marker.
* A sectarian attack was also mounted on a house in Armagh city last weekend.
The front window of the house at Greenfield Court was smashed during the attack which occurred in the early hours of Saturday morning.
Graffiti was scrawled over a fence and the windscreen of the family car was smashed.
The couple and their two children were in the house at the time but they were not injured.
Sectarian attacks increasing despite quiet march season
By Marie Louise McCrory and Barry McCaffrey, Irish News
Sectarian attacks have risen by 35% in a year, averaging five attacks every day.
Despite successful efforts to minimise tensions around flashpoint Orange Order parades, this summer has nevertheless seen a marked rise in sectarian attacks when compared with last year.
Latest police figures show that since April there have been an average of 38 sectarian attacks across the north every week.
Between April 1 and July 7 there were a total of 491 reports.
This compares to 363 for the same period in 2005, an increase of 128 – up more than a third.
The figures come after a fresh outbreak of violence in north Belfast.
The homes of Catholic families in the Whitewell area were targeted by a gang of 30 to 40 masked men armed with crossbows, who claimed to be retaliating for attacks on Protestant-owned houses in the nearby Graymount estate.
Targeted in the incident was the home of a six-day-old child whose parents were among those attacked by the gang.
The child's great-grandmother was the victim of a separate sectarian attack on her own home in the north of the city earlier this summer.
The period referred to in the police figures covers the high-profile killing of Catholic teenager Michael McIlveen in Ballymena.
Five male teenagers have been charged over his death.
Meanwhile, a 29-year-old Catholic man beaten in an attack in Derry in the early hours of Sunday July 16 remains in a critical condition in Belfast's Royal Victoria Hospital more than a week later.
Paul McCauley, a father-of-one, suffered serious head injuries after a gang assaulted him and two other men.
He had to be resuscitated twice in Altnagelvin Hospital.
One of the other men also had his jaw fractured, while the third was badly bruised.
Police said the attack at Chapel Road in the Waterside area was sectarian and they are treating it as attempted murder.
However, Paul's father Jim McCauley has said he was "unhappy at the fact that it is being seen in some quarters as a sectarian attack – we obviously don't know the make-up of the attacking group".
The PSNI started gathering figures for sectarian attacks last year.
The first annual figure available shows police recorded 1,701 in Northern Ireland between April 2005 and April 2006.
Jacqueline Irwin, deputy chief executive officer at the Community Relations Council, said there was much work being done to help build community relations.
"The issue at the moment is relating to young people, groups and night culture," she said.
"There are no formal structures in place.
"There are large groups of young people out and about together with some characteristics of gangs.
"It's like a peculiar by-product of a more normal society, that young people feel safe to be out at night."
Ms Irwin said there was also an issue with availability of services.
"A lot of structures are not available during the summer," she said.
"There's a gap between what's available for the hard-to-reach young people."
Copyright © 2006 Irish News