Portadown - 8 May 1997:
Portadown Catholic Robert Hamill died in a Belfast hospital.
Ten days previously, he had been severely beaten by a loyalist (pro-british) mob as he
made his way along Woodhouse Street towards his Obins Street home, in the
Irish sector of Portadown, County Armagh.
A RUC (police) landrover was standing not far away yet the crew of the vehicle didn't intervene.
Portadown - 7 October 2007:
in the early hours of Sunday morning, two nationalist men in their
20s were set upon by a 30-strong gang of loyalists. The incident took place
at Woodhouse Street, leading to Obins Street. An attacker smashing a bottle over a young man's head.
After being knocked to the ground he was repeatedly beaten and kicked by 10 loyalists. A PSNI (police) landrover was
80 yards away yet the crew of the vehicle didn't intervene.
"The freedom to live free from sectarian intimidation',
promised by the Good Friday Agreement,
means nothing if Portadown Catholics are threatened
if they venture into Portadown town centre to socialise."
Sinn Féin MLA John O'Dowd.
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