Republican News · Thursday 7 November 2002

Crucifixion, loyalist violence continues

BY LAURA FRIEL

"If this lad had not been a Catholic," said David Ervine of the PUP, "would crucifixion have been an option? I think not."

There were rumours. In West Belfast, by mid morning on Saturday, news had been just beginning to filter through the community network that a young Catholic from Poleglass had been discovered, beaten unconscious and nailed to a wooden stile close to the loyalist Seymour Hill estate in Dunmurry.

Within 24 hours, the Sunday newspapers were carrying full colour photographs of 23-year-old Harry McCartan in a life support unit, bloody, bruised beyond recognition and bandaged. His face had swollen to three times its normal size. The family had identified him by a tattoo on one arm.

In the photographs, his hands were still impaled on sections of the wooden crossbars. He had been cut free from the fencing by the fire brigade, but the loyalist gang who nailed Harry McCartan, crucifixion-style, had hammered the nails in such a way as to render escape impossible.

Harry McCartan is a car thief with a string of convictions. His anti-social behaviour has brought nothing but sorrow and strife to his family and community. When loyalists dragged the 23-year-old 'joy rider' from his car in the early hours of Saturday morning, the outcome was never going to be anything other than brutal.

d then the gang realised they had a Catholic.

Documentation found strewn at the scene has confirmed that the gang identified Harry McCartan as a Catholic with a home address in the nationalist Poleglass estate. Of course, ritualistic torture and killing is nothing new to loyalism. The most infamous loyalist gang to indulge in this sectarian terror tactic was the Shankill Butchers, but this is the first time crucifixion has appeared as a method.

d it is shocking and it is horrendous, as abhorrent as the racists' burning cross and lynching. And for the northern nationalist community living in a sectarian state, it holds a symbolism far beyond the immediate individual act of violence.

Despite attempts to distance loyalist paramilitaries from the attack, the gang who carried out the crucifixion are believed to be members of the UDA.

Graffiti that appeared shortly afterwards naming the victim and threatening more crucifixions also referred to the UDA motto, Quis Separatum, and was signed "South Belfast UFF", another name for the UDA. Other graffiti appearing in the loyalist Seymour Hill estate threatened to "nail" more people.

In the end, Harry McCartan was 'lucky' - to be found relatively quickly in the remote spot in which he had been abandoned, and to have survived his physical injuries (he has yet to survive the trauma). He is expected to make a good, if slow, recovery.

Last month, the sectarian gang who attacked Larne Catholic Gerard McRandal did not indulge in any ritualistic terror. The brutality they employed was familiar enough, an unprovoked and brutal attack in which their victim was repeatedly kicked in the head.

This week marks Gerard's 30th birthday but 13 days after surviving the loyalist attack, no one will be celebrating.

Gerard McRandal was attacked just yards from his home in Gardenmore Flats after spending an evening with his mother at a local bar. He had returned home but later decided to collect a take away meal from a local outlet. He was attacked on his way back home.

Gerard survived but suffered irreversible brain damage. Still critically ill, he is unable to recognise his family and friends and remains unaware of time and place. It is unlikely that Gerard will ever return home or be able to perform the basic tasks of life, like feeding or caring for himself.

Mahood faked attack

Meanwhile, it has been confirmed that claims by UDA leader Davy Mahood that his car had been fired upon by republicans were part of a deliberate fabrication and in fact Mahood himself had faked the whole incident.

In September, Mahood claimed to have survived a republican murder attempt. Earlier a similar claim had led to the loyalist killing of Catholic teenager Gerard Lawlor and the serious wounding of another Catholic man in what loyalist paramilitaries dubbed a restrained military response.

Now it appears Mahood, a close associate of Adair and White, may have been involved in a bid to destabilise relations between various loyalist groupings in an internecine turf war. Adair and White were subsequently expelled from the UDA. Last week, the UDA claimed Mahood had engaged in "subversive activity" after shooting him in a 'punishment' style attack.

A second leading loyalist, Sammy Duddy, escaped serious injury after a gun attack on his North Belfast home. Two loyalist gunmen fired through the front door before running from the scene. A threat from the 'Tigers Bay Reaction Force', a non-existent grouping, preceded the attack. The cover name has been linked to Adair's C Company.

The UDA and LVF subsequently issued a statement declaring the feud between warring loyalist factions to be over. The paramilitary 'truce' was announced following talks between rival factions in a County Down hotel.

Sinn Féin's North Belfast Assembly member, Gerry Kelly, warned nationalists to be vigilant following the loyalist statement. "Time and time again differences between the disparate groups within loyalism are overcome by directing an increased number of attacks against nationalists and Catholics," he said.