A Catholic teenager is fighting for his life after being struck on the back of the head with a hatchet in a savage attack by members of the Ulster Young Militants (UYM), the youth wing of the UDA.
Fifteen-year-old Michael Craig, from the Folly area of Antrim town, was attacked as he stood outside shops with a group of friends close to Greystone Primary School at around 11.30pm on Friday 30 August.
The teenager was with five friends, three Protestants and two Catholics, when a crowd of loyalists from the Stiles Estate rushed them. Five of the friends managed to escape but Craig was struck on the head with the hatchet before collapsing on a nearby green. He remains in a critical condition in The Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast with his parents at his bedside.
The vicious and unprovoked assault happened not far from where 19-year-old Catholic Ciaran Cummins was shot dead last year by the UDA.
trim Sinn Féin Councillor Martin McManus, speaking to An Phoblacht, said: "This sectarian attack was carried out by around 40 youths who are members of the UYM operating out of the Stiles Estate. They have been involved in serious sectarian violence in Antrim for months and this attack is a clear indication that they are upping the ante against nationalists."
Three teenagers have been charged with attempted murder and another teenager has been charged with wounding with intent. All have been remanded in custody.
Sinn Féin organised a rally in response to this sectarian attack and the ongoing sectarianism in Antrim. Party representative áine Gribbon said that Sinn Féin will be holding a series of rallies to highlight loyalist violence in the area and to expose the RUC/PSNI. The first will be on Sunday 8 September outside Antrim RUC/PSNI barracks at 7.30pm. She called on the SDLP and the Mayor of Antrim, Mervyn Rea, to support the rally.
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