Republican News · Thursday 2 May 2002

Loyalist violence and unionist hypocrisy

BY LAURA FRIEL

Internal tensions within both loyalism and unionism are currently posing a dual threat to the peace process. As in the past, those tensions are being played out through a process of attacks on nationalists and their political representatives.

Rather than facing down disaffection within his own party ranks and facing up to ongoing rivalry with the DUP, David Trimble is once again seeking to foil further unionist unrest by redirecting their bile towards Sinn Féin.

Despite the clear duty of the First Minister to promote the peace process and safe guard the power sharing arrangements that emerged from the Good Friday Agreement, Trimble spent last week cranking up yet another political 'crisis'.

But the Ulster Unionist Party's tabling of a motion questioning the status of the IRA ceasefire and calling for a determination by the British Secretary of State, ended in acrimony when the DUP curiously voted with Sinn Féin to defeat the motion.

Interviewed the day before, Trimble had insisted that the peace process was 'close to collapse'. During a recent meeting, Trimble had informed Sinn Féin "nobody in the unionist community believes a word they say and that is the community whose support I depend on. I wanted them to know how critical things are. The problem is that there does not appear to be a clear way of solving the present difficulty. How do you recover lost credibility?" said Trimble.

But the root of Trimble's crisis doesn't really lie with the perceived mendacity of republicans but the ridiculous strategy pursued by the First Minister himself. Instead of promoting the peace process as an inclusive alternative to conflict, Trimble has tied his position within unionism to his ability to undermine the process and exclude republicans.

So on the one hand, Trimble must secure his position within the structures by working with Sinn Féin while on the other hand securing his position within unionism by inventing reasons for not working with Sinn Féin.

In terms of lost credibility, Trimble, it seems, would do well to heed his own warning. And it would be comic if the consequences were not so tragic. By constantly destabilising the peace process, Trimble and other unionist politicians are fostering a perfect environment for continuing loyalist violence.

Meanwhile, in the parallel universe of loyalist paramilitaries, internecine rivalry between different factions, further fuelled by the immanent release of jailed UDA leader Johnny Adair, is translating into more attacks on nationalists and their political representatives.

Following a renewed threat from loyalists operating under the name of the Red Hand Defenders, Sinn Féin elected representatives, both within the Assembly and on local councils, have been warned of a serious threat against their lives.

In a telephone call to a Belfast newsroom, a caller said the RHD were responsible for a bomb attack on the North Belfast home of former Sinn Féin Councillor Mick Conlon. The caller said the group would continue to target members of Sinn Féin.

Earlier in the week a nail bomb had been thrown at the front door of the Conlon family's home but the device failed to explode. Within the last five years Mick Conlon has been warned 15 times of a pending loyalist death threat.

A cover name used by both the UDA and LVF, the RHD have claimed responsibility for numerous sectarian murders and attacks. Public outcry in the wake of the sectarian killing of Catholic postal worker Daniel McColgan last January forced the British Secretary of State, John Reid, to reconsider the status of the UDA ceasefire.

Under pressure, the UDA announced that the RHD had been disbanded. The reemergence of the group last week has fuelled fears that the UDA is planning to step up its campaign of sectarian violence.

There have been over 400 loyalist bomb and gun attacks this year with almost nightly attacks against vulnerable nationalist communities like North Belfast. In one of the most recent attacks a Catholic family escaped injury after a loyalist pipe bomb shattered a porch, ripped through floorboards and damaged a bath at their County Down home.

Windows in the Ballynahinch house and a neighbouring property were also shattered, leaving few in doubt that the force of the blast came from a device designed to inflict serious damage and injury.

In recent years, rivalry between different loyalist factions has been played out through an upsurge of anti-Catholic sectarian violence. The loyalist blockade of Holy Cross Primary School was perhaps the most blatant example of this strategy.

By engineering sectarian hatred within the local Protestant community, the UDA pursued a vigorous recruiting campaign, particularly targeting the youth that threatened the balance of loyalist forces within the Glenbryn area.

d now Northern nationalists are bracing themselves for a further upsurge in loyalist violence following a possible realignment within loyalist forces likely to be precipitated by the release of Johnny Adair.

Recent media reports have suggested that the UDA is already in chaos, particularly in east Belfast, with members leaving to join Adair's C Company in the Lower Shankill and a senior member under pressure to stand down.

Adair is due for release from Maghaberry on 14 May and it has already been rumoured that he may make his base in Lurgan, where he has close ties with the LVF. In the past, Adair established close links with Billy Wright, leader of the LVF, a breakaway group from the UVF.

On release, Adair is expected to rebuild his power base, threatening both the UVF and rival elements within the UDA. Adair claims to have 'modelled' himself on Wright and blames the UVF and UDA leadership for Wright's death.

Before his timely arrest, Adair was a central player in last year's vicious loyalist feud. He initiated a recruiting campaign by stoking up sectarian violence in North Belfast and Drumcree in a ruthless attempt to enhance his own power base within loyalism.