Ballymena family burnt out

A Catholic family in Ballymena have escaped a murder bid after their house was attacked with a petrol bomb in the early hours of Sunday morning.

The device was thrown through the front window of the home in the Ballyloughan area of Ballymena.

Three people who were in the house at the time suffered from shock. The living room was extensively damaged and smoke had affected the rest of the building.

SDLP councillor Declan O’Loan said the incident was sectarian.

“I know the family involved, this has political, sectarian implications,” he said.

“Incidents like this have to be treated as attempted murder and I would say to those involved that they need to recognise the seriousness of what they are doing.”

He added Ballymena had been quiet so far this summer and he didn`t want to see tensions reigniting.

There was furious sectarian strife in the town earlier this year which culminated in the murder of 15-year-old schoolboy Michael McIlveen in May.

RACE ATTACK

Meanwhile, hardline unionists have been blamed for a racist firebomb attack on a group of Polish people in east Belfast.

A total of six Polish people were in the building on Castlereagh Road, in the early hours of Saturday morning morning when the fire started.

Several people were treated for smoke inhalation. migrants’ lives. Unionist paramilitary groups routinely carry out race-hate attacks across the North.

Urgent Appeal