Loyalists attack Antrim massgoers
By Laura Friel
A sectarian bomb attack at a Catholic church during Mass is the
latest in a series of loyalist attacks against the nationalist
population in Antrim town.
A pipe bomb was thrown towards a group of parishioners as they stood
in the doorway of St Joseph's Chapel as they attended Mass on Monday.
The attack was later claimed by a group calling itself the Red Hand
Defenders. Threatening fatalities in future attacks, the loyalist
grouping said it reserved the right to have more ``first strikes''
whenever the opportunity arose.
The Red Hand Defenders, a flag of convenience for members of the
Loyalist Volunteer Force, have claimed a series of recent sectarian
bomb and gun attacks including the murder of North Belfast Catholic
Brian Service late last year.
The attack at St Joseph's follows a spate of attacks on Catholic
churches in County Antrim. St James' church in the Crumlin area was
destroyed during a loyalist fire bomb blitz of ten Catholic chapels
in the run up to Drumcree last year. In Antrim town in recent months
16 Catholic families have been intimidated out of one estate, three
churches have been attacked and in recent years there has been three
sectarian murders.
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