Post by Ayres on Sept 14, 2005 20:46:16 GMT -5
A PROTESTANT man had two bullets delivered to his home after helping a nationalist neighbour at the centre of a sectarian campaign of intimidation in Co Antrim.
It is understood the Protestant man received the bullets after foiling a petrol bomb attack on the home of nationalist woman Kathleen McCaughey who was forced to flee her Ahoghill home by loyalists ON September 6. Kathleen McCaughey confirmed that her neighbour was determined to leave the area after the incident, which was not reported to the RUC\PSNI.
"I received no help from the UUP or DUP or anyone living near me except for this man and this is how he has been treated. People around me were warned not to help." Kathleen McCaughey, a member of the Aghohill GAA club was a guest along with her husband at the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship final in Croke Park, Dublin on September 11. Kathleen McCaughey won an All-Ireland club medal with Antrim camogie team in 1979.
News of the threat comes as the erection of sectarian posters in a Co Antrim town threatening nationalist residents has been compared to the actions of the Ku Klux Klan in the US. The posters, which appeared throughout the village of Ahoghill, near Ballymena on September 3 and 4 threatened to put an "end to republican, nationalist and Roman influences within our community". Tension among nationalist residents living in the loyalist town rose ahead of a 30-band loyalist parade on September 7.
In the past two months, three nationalist families have been forced to flee Ahoghill after their homes were targeted in paint and petrol bomb attacks. The poster, which carries the heading 'statement by the loyalist people of Ahoghill', accuses the British government of pandering to "republican demands" and says: "The time has come to end all capitulation and raise awareness of the imbalance shown to republican groups".
Since the beginning of July there have been several dozen attacks on nationalist owned properties in the wider Ballymena area. In total, paint and fire bombers have targeted five Catholic churches and a number of schools. Last week the RUC\PSNI was forced to mount an armed guard at the gates of several Catholic churches and schools in the area over heightened fears of loyalist attack. The recently erected loyalist posters are being seen by many as an attempt to intimidate the remaining few nationalists left in the village.
The poster threat comes after unionist politicians threw out a motion condemning recent violence in the Ballymena area and calling for a council-sponsored forum to be set up in a bid to tackle the scourge of sectarianism in the borough.
It is understood the Protestant man received the bullets after foiling a petrol bomb attack on the home of nationalist woman Kathleen McCaughey who was forced to flee her Ahoghill home by loyalists ON September 6. Kathleen McCaughey confirmed that her neighbour was determined to leave the area after the incident, which was not reported to the RUC\PSNI.
"I received no help from the UUP or DUP or anyone living near me except for this man and this is how he has been treated. People around me were warned not to help." Kathleen McCaughey, a member of the Aghohill GAA club was a guest along with her husband at the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship final in Croke Park, Dublin on September 11. Kathleen McCaughey won an All-Ireland club medal with Antrim camogie team in 1979.
News of the threat comes as the erection of sectarian posters in a Co Antrim town threatening nationalist residents has been compared to the actions of the Ku Klux Klan in the US. The posters, which appeared throughout the village of Ahoghill, near Ballymena on September 3 and 4 threatened to put an "end to republican, nationalist and Roman influences within our community". Tension among nationalist residents living in the loyalist town rose ahead of a 30-band loyalist parade on September 7.
In the past two months, three nationalist families have been forced to flee Ahoghill after their homes were targeted in paint and petrol bomb attacks. The poster, which carries the heading 'statement by the loyalist people of Ahoghill', accuses the British government of pandering to "republican demands" and says: "The time has come to end all capitulation and raise awareness of the imbalance shown to republican groups".
Since the beginning of July there have been several dozen attacks on nationalist owned properties in the wider Ballymena area. In total, paint and fire bombers have targeted five Catholic churches and a number of schools. Last week the RUC\PSNI was forced to mount an armed guard at the gates of several Catholic churches and schools in the area over heightened fears of loyalist attack. The recently erected loyalist posters are being seen by many as an attempt to intimidate the remaining few nationalists left in the village.
The poster threat comes after unionist politicians threw out a motion condemning recent violence in the Ballymena area and calling for a council-sponsored forum to be set up in a bid to tackle the scourge of sectarianism in the borough.
