Loyalist (Pro-british) violence in the North of Ireland

Andersonstwon News, August 22, 2005

Loyalist violence once more directed against small community in East Belfast:
Short Strand Siege

Mural in Short Strand in the year 2002:
"You don't have to believe we're this crazy - I mean - just because you've read it somewhere ..."
says wee David on the mural against those media which reported the sustained month long attacks by loyalists against Short Strand in 2002 as a fight of two communities. 3000 people are living in Short Strand (mostly catholics, but protestants as well). They are surrounded by 90.000 inhabitants of loyalist East Belfast.
It fits into loyalist strategy to attack small and vulnerable irish nationalist communities.

Short Strand residents were subjected to a weekend orgy of violence from East Belfast loyalists in which shots were fired into the small nationalist enclave and a pipe bomb hurled into the district. And the Andersonstown News can reveal that after the PSNI were informed of the existence of the pipe bomb, it took Army Technical officers (ATO) nearly two hours to respond.

Last night (Sunday) Sinn Féin representative for Short Strand, Deborah Devenny said: "This needs the involvement of the Irish and British governments, it needs to be dealt with at a top level. "This cannot be allowed to escalate again. This escalated in 2002 and it went on for four months. All we want is for this to be stopped and for the people in this area to have some quality of life."

Weekend of violence in Short Strand

Nationalist residents of the Short Strand are angry with the PSNI and British army for leaving a pipe bomb in a garden for almost two hours before it was made safe on Sunday morning. The pipe bomb incident was part of a weekend-long attack on nationalists in which five shots were fired, a crude explosive device and a variety of other missiles being hurled over the peace line.

A pipe bomb, measuring approximately nine inches long, with a two inch fuse was thrown from the loyalist Cluan Place, over the peace line, into the garden of Mr Seán McVeigh in Clandeboye Gardens. During a lull in the attacks, Mr McVeigh's wife discovered the device and lifted it before realising what it was. She put it down again and phoned the PSNI.

A PSNI spokesperson confirmed that they received a 999 call about the device at 1.30am and tasked the Army Technical officers (ATO), who are responsible for removal of suspect devices, at 1.57am, to attend the scene.

The ATO then arrived on the scene at 3.15 am and declared the area safe at 3.45am.

Mr McVeigh was angered at the delay in the response to the alert.

"This was a killer. If it had gone off it would have done damage. We had to do a sweep of our own gardens, to see if there were any more devices. Even at that, we can't check everything. There should be sniffer-dogs in here.

"Anywhere else people would be in and there would be a sweep done, but we have to do this ourselves. There is a contempt shown for us."

Tension has mounted in the area over recent weeks with an increase in the number of missiles being thrown over the peace line. The trouble escalated with the Rangers Celtic match on Saturday followed by a reported loyalist band competition in the Cluan area. At about 5.30pm the first of the missiles were thrown over the peace line. Nationalists admit that they threw missiles back when it became apparent that the PSNI were not going to protect them.

Mr McVeigh said that the throwing of the missiles by loyalists were orchestrated.

"My wife actually heard a man giving orders, shouting 'one, two, three, let's go'. Then bottles, bricks, golf balls, the usual, came over," said Mr McVeigh.

At approximately 1.00am five shots were fired into the nationalist estate from Cluan Place. Later a crude fireworks device, with ball bearings attached, exploded. A Short Strand woman received minor injuries when she was hit on the back by a rock.

Sinn Féin East Belfast representative Deborah Devenny says that the attacks in the Short Strand demand the intervention of the Irish and British governments.

"This needs the involvement of the Irish and British governments, it needs to be dealt with at a top level. This cannot be allowed to escalate again. This escalated in 2002 and it went on for four months. All we want is for this to be stopped and for the people in this area to have some quality of life.

"The PSNI have once again demonstrated their unwillingness to deal with loyalist thugs intent upon intimidating the people of this area. The PSNI have absolutely no control over this situation.

"Furthermore, there are three security cameras in the area, which must have recorded events over these past days. It will be interesting to see if they are taken away and examined.

"This community is sickened and disgusted by a week-long siege on this district. A barrage of ball-bearings, golf balls, bricks and bottles have rained down upon people and property. The political leadership of unionism and the Orange Order must face down these people. In a week when Sinn Féin launched a dossier outlining over 85 attacks upon nationalists in the summer months, unionist paramilitaries continue to orchestrate and participate in these attacks."

A PSNI spokesperson said that they will examine CCTV footage in an effort to identify those responsible. A spokesperson for the British army was not available to comment on the delay in removing the bomb.