The bomb attack on the home of a Catholic family in the Newington area of North Belfast last Wednesday night, 27 February, came within days of a high profile meeting between British Tory MP Quentin Davies and the newly formed Loyalist Commission.
The Commission was set up by unionist politicians and loyalist community leaders and includes members of the UDA, the UVF and the Red Hand Commandos.
Media reports suggest that Davies, who is the Tory party spokesperson on the North, asked the loyalists about decommissioning but was told bluntly that there was no chance.
A spokesperson for the killer gang is reputed to have stated, "our position from the outset has always been that decommissioning is not something we signed up to". And even though the UDA has been behind over 300 pipe bomb attacks, mainly on Catholics throughout the North, the UDA says it is not under pressure to decommission its weapons.
According to Sinn Féin Councillor Gerard Brophy, the occupants of the house on Newington Street were at home at the time of the attack and say the device caused a huge explosion. "The householders told me the explosion was far too loud to be a firework and they heard the sound of metal hitting the ground just before the bomb went off," said Brophy.
A caller claiming to be from the Red Hand Defenders and using a recognised code word warned that they left a bomb at the home of an Ardoyne family on Friday morning 1 March.
Despite claims that the organisation had been disbanded under pressure from the UDA, Friday's incident shows the threat it still poses.
Friday's incident began at 8.30am when Joe O'Connor's 12-year-old daughter opened the front door of the family home in Cranbrook Court in Ardoyne on her way out to school and discovered the device taped onto the front door.
The family moved to the back of the house and the British Army bomb squad was sent for. Although the device turned out to be an elaborate hoax, they suffered a severe shock.
"We don't know why we were targeted," said Joe O'Connor. "We are Catholics living in a Catholic area so it could be that we were just targeted at random. There is no reason why we should have been singled out as we are not politically involved".
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