Attempted massacre in West Belfast
A mass murder bid in West Belfast last week has sent shockwaves across the
nationalist community of the North and has fostered already heightened
fears of further massacre attempts by loyalist death squads.
Security was tightened on Saturday night last in public areas across
Belfast for the FA Cup final and will be doubled for the Scottish Cup final
between Celtic and Rangers this weekend.
More importantly, the latest mass murder attempt is a prelude to more
attacks by dissident loyalist death squads with the active participation of
loyalist groups allegedly on ceasefire.
Last Thursday night, 300 people were enjoying a night of craic at Caffery's
on the Falls Road, facing the Red Devils Bar. It was shortly after midnight
when a white car, believed to be a Nissan Primera, pulled up beside the
bar. It had been spotted by the Community Watch in the area previously.
A young man tried to enter the pub. ``He tried to get in the fire doors
before he was confronted by one of the door staff,'' said Arthur Rooney,
owner of both bars. ``Had it not been for the plated glass, it would have
been a massacre''.
The owner of both bars also highlighted the fact that the spy cameras
located on the Broadway flats would no doubt have filmed the sequence of
events.
Shortly after, a grenade was thrown against the bar and exploded in the
middle of the road. The impact of the blast shattered the windows of both
bars.
According to a West Belfast woman who was drinking in the bar at the time,
customers then jumped to the floor as others ran to the far end of the bar,
fearing another blast.
``People were totally panicked and were shouting to keep our heads down
because they thought a gunman would enter,'' she said. Four people had to be
hospitalised, three of them suffering from shrapnel injuries. According to
various sources, it took the RUC 45 minutes to get to the scene.
The ambulances transporting the injured were not allowed to leave the bar
before the RUC's arrival. Upon arrival, an RUC member jumped out of the
jeep with a plastic bullet gun and pointed it at the crowd.
Speaking at the scene the next morning, Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams
said: ``I would appeal to everyone, particularly the Ulster Unionists, to
implement the agreement reached, otherwise the continuing vacuum will be
filled by the type of people who were active last night on the Falls Road''.
He added: ``The British government needs to understand that if this was
Brick Lane in London, this would not be tolerated. It is only a matter of
time before someone is killed.''
As the bar staff cleaned the shattered glass and attempted to resume
business as normal, a Progressive Unionist Party statement rang further
alarm bells. David Ervine warned that this attack was only the ``tip of the
iceberg'' of what dissident loyalists would do if political progress wasn't
made. He added that similar attacks had to be expected.
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