From Pat Finucane Centre

Sectarian Incidents March 2001

The following list of sectarian incidents and attacks is from 01 through 31 March 2001. We rely on a number of sources for our information, but this is by no means comprehensive. If you find incidents that have been left off the list please contact us. A full dossier of sectarian attacks from January 1999 until February 2001 is available on our website at wwwserve.com/pfc

March 2, Friday. The Derry Journal reported the case of Mr Stephen John Ward, 26, given a one month suspended sentence by Resident Magistrate Mrs Bernie Kelly for disorderly behaviour. Mr Ward stood accused of being drunk and shouting abuse at a group of loyalists and at the RUC on the Ardmore Road, outside Derry, during the Drumcree crisis last year. Defence counsel had noted that Ward was the only person arrested in connection with incidents that night. (DJ)

A driver who mounted a kerb to get through an illegal loyalist roadblock at the height of last year's Drumcree protest will not face prosecution. The driver, a nationalist from Dunmurry, had been charged by the RUC with dangerous driving for mounting a kerb in an effort to get home. He received a letter from the RUC informing him that the charges had been dropped. (IN)

It was reported that the DUP were opposed to the Electoral Commission's selection of the Templemore Sports Complex, on Derry's city-side, as the venue for carrying out the count in the forthcoming local elections. Speaking for the Paisley-ite party, MLA Gregory Campbell said that the site was not viable for Protestants and Unionists. (DJ, IN)

The Orange Standard carried a leading article calling for "Orangemen and unionists [to] continue to identify with the name of the Royal Ulster Constabulary on all policing matters in Northern Ireland... They must refrain from using any title foisted on the greater number of people in Northern Ireland by those whose agenda is to destroy one of the finest police forces in Europe". (IN)

Police Ombudsman, Nuala O'Loan, confirmed that a loyalist hit list containing the names of more than 150 alleged republicans, which had been seized in north Belfast, was being looked at as part of a "major case". It is believed the major case referred to is that of the murdered human rights solicitor, Rosemary Nelson. In a separate raid, the RUC had seized files containing the names of 300 alleged republicans, along with a haul of pipe bombs. (IN)

March 3, Saturday. Portadown District Lodge of the Orange Order announced that, due to the first confirmed case of Foot and Mouth disease in county Armagh, it would cancel the Drumcree Hill "protest", just as it was about to enter its 1000th day. The move was dismissed as a publicity stunt by Garvaghy Road Residents Coalition' spokesperson BreandE1n MacCionnaith: "If it was a question of the Orange Order being at Drumcree 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, it would be a different matter. The reality is that they only turn up on Sunday at the church after dinnertime. It is not a permanent protest as they like to portray." (IN, PFC, CW)

March 6, Tuesday. An Irish News editorial called on the Orange Order to take responsibility for the tensions caused around Drumcree each year, and to engage in meaningful dialogue with the Garvaghy Road residents and with the Parades' Commission. (IN)

March 7, Wednesday. A group calling itself the Red Hand Commando, usually the nom de guerre for the UVF but thought in this case to be a cover name for unspecified fringe loyalists, planted a hoax device outside the RTC9 broadcasting station in Dublin. It is thought that this was done in response to the Real IRA' s car bomb, planted outside the BBC's headquarters in London. (IN, BBC, RTE, IT)

March 8, Thursday. East Antrim SDLP Assemblyman Danny O'Connor petitioned the Human Rights Commission to assist in his call for the Northern Ireland Office to give grant aid to people at risk from sectarian attack. Mr O'Connor wants people who have been threatened or targeted before to be made eligible for some of the same monies available to higher profile politicians and State employees on the Key Persons Protection Scheme, so they can install bullet proof windows and doors. (IN, BT, BBC)

Pastor Clifford Peeples, the anti-agreement fundamentalist preacher associated with the LVF and the Orange Volunteers, and his accomplice James McGookin-Fisher, were jailed for 10 and 8 years respectively at Belfast's Crown court for the possession of two Russian RDG-5 grenades, two detonators, and a pipe-bomb, found in Peeple's car on 26 October 1999. Peeples, 31, first came to prominence as a member of the now discredited Families Against Intimidation and Terror (FAIT), whose founder Vincent McKenna is now serving a jail term for a string of sexual offences against his daughter. RUC sources had told the Irish News in January that it believes a group of fundamentalist preachers are orchestrating dissident loyalist violence. One of them is said to have blessed the handgun that was used in the 1998 killing of Belfast Catholic Brian Service. (see January 2001 attacks) (IN, BT, IT, BBC PFC)

The UDP's John White warned that Loyalists would move their campaign south of the border to target nationalists there if the Real IRA continued its campaign. He was speaking in the wake of the March 7 bomb hoax at RTC9 in Donnybrook in Dublin. (IN)

Thomas Walker, 41, a chef from Templemore in East Belfast, appeared at Belfast's High Court charged with possessing eight hand-guns, a rifle, a sawn-off shotgun and 1,500 rounds of ammunition with intent to endanger life. He was also charged with having two flak jackets, two balaclavas and a quantity of gloves for terrorist purposes. It is believed the cache is linked to the LVF. See March 9. (IN, RUC))

March 9, Friday. At the High Court in Belfast, Justice McCollum expressed surprise that a bail application by lawyers for Thomas Walker was not being opposed. Walker, 41, from east Belfast, was charged with storing a substantial cache of weapons in his home for loyalist paramilitaries. The RUC had found the arsenal during a follow-up search after a car was hijacked on the Castlereagh on Tuesday, 6 March. Walker was released on A3500 bail, with 2 sureties each of A3500. (IN, RUC)

The Northern Ireland Prison Service released a statement giving substance to allegations that imprisoned UDA/UFF commander Johnny Adair had been the target of an attempted poisoning on December 23 in Maghaberry jail. The RUC are now said to be investigating. (IN)

The father of LVF leader Billy Wright, who was shot dead in the Maze prison in 1997 by the INLA, visited the scene of his son's death before meeting the British Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, John Reid. David Wright, who believes his son's murder was "state-sanctioned" and has called for a public inquiry into the circumstances of the shooting, was accompanied by Jane Winter, director of British-Irish Rights Watch. Ms Winter expressed concern at what appeared to be a failure by the prison authorities to safeguard Billy Wright's right to life. (IN)

10 March, Saturday. A Catholic family living in Kyntire Park in the mainly Protestant Ballykeel estate in Ballymena were the victims of a sectarian petrol bomb attack on their home. They all escaped injury. (IN)

11 March, Sunday. An arson attack on the home of five Portuguese people living in Dungannon, Co Tyrone is believed to have been racially motivated. RUC sources said it was the second time the same group of people had been targeted. All five escaped uninjured. (IN)

13 March, Tuesday. The unionist Ulster Community Action Network (UCAN) in Derry hit out at nationalists in the City for drafting a "revisionist history " of the Troubles. The organisation called for inquiries into the killings of security force members and "prominent Protestants" it claims were carried out with Garda collusion. It also asked the Bloody Sunday Trust to clarify what it meant when it said that funding should go "towards healing the divisions created in the city because of Bloody Sunday". "Will the [Trust] fund projects examining Protestant alienation in Londonderry?" asked UCAN's Mark Pilling. Mr Pilling cited the calls for inquiries into the killings of Rosemary Nelson and Pat Finucane, adding that the balance needed to be redressed. A spokesperson for the Bloody Sunday Trust expressed hope that UCAN would approach them with any questions it had.(DJ, IN, DN)20

Adrian Porter, an LVF member filmed last year at Drumcree in the company of UFF leader Johnny Adair, was shot dead while out on bail awaiting sentencing for drug dealing offences. It is thought he was shot by the UVF. (IN, BBC, BT)

The Parades Commission placed a number of restrictions on bands taking part in the St Patrick's Day parade in Kilkeel, Co Down. One band, the Banna Fluit Naoimh Phadraig, was prevented from parading altogether. (IN, CW)

The British Army defused two pipe bombs found in the garden of a house in the Whitehill estate in Bangor, Co Down. (IN)

Irish history student, Eoin D3 Cleirigh, from Newry, was fined A3250 by a Belfast Magistrate following an incident involving the RUC during which he insists his only crime was to have given his name in Irish. (AN)

15 March, Thursday. The number of racial incidents recorded in 2000 was 246, a fourfold increase on the 39 recorded in 1996, according to RUC statistics. The figures were revealed as SDLP junior Stormont minister, Dennis Haughey, announced that the executive was beginning a consultation process for new anti-discrimination legislation. (IN)

16 March, Friday. Ulster Unionist Party chief whip in the Assembly, Jim Wilson was suspended from the Orange Order after it had summonsed him to explain his voting record in the assembly. It is understood Wilson had voted against a DUP motion calling for the Orange Order to be given automatic membership of the Civic Forum. (IN)

International Soccer star Neil Lennon, from Lurgan Co Armagh, who plays for Glasgow Celtic and for Northern Ireland, in spite of recent threats made against him, has been subjected to more death threats. This time the threats were posted on a website associated with Glasgow Rangers supporters. (IN)

Chris Evans, a BBC Radio 1 DJ, was criticised after he featured a 'gag' on his radio show in which the Irish language was likened to "puking". SDLP Cookstown representative Patsy McGlone said that broadcasting jokes like that to an English audience amounted to anti-Irish racism.(IN)

Lower Ormeau Concerned Community spokesperson, Gerard Rice, whose house has been attacked 14 times in as many months, told the Andersonstown News he believed that loyalist murder gangs were carrying out dummy runs on homes in the area, in preparation for more attacks. (AN)

March 17, Saturday. The Andersonstown News reported that British Neo Nazi group, Combat 18 have held a series of fundraising concerts for the LVF in England. At the first concert, held in Coventry, leading loyalists stood alongside Nazi skinheads and senior National Front members. (AN)

Liz Murphy, 26-year-old mother of two from Poleglass in Belfast, has been told for the third time in a year that her details are in the hands of loyalists. Ms Murphy, whose details were among those found at the Orange Hall in Stoneyford and again on a separate UDA list last year, has now been told by the RUC that her details were among those discovered at a recently discovered loyalist arms dump. (AN, IN)

RUC officers seized an Irish Tricolour during a St Patrick's day parade in Limavady.(IN)

March 18, Sunday. Bobby McConnell, a former UFF man convicted in 1982 of the murder of Larne politician John Turnly and Catholic Rodney McCormick, was elected vice-chair of the west Belfast Ulster Unionist Association. He will act as deputy to Chris McGimpsey on the party's executive. (IN)

In Belfast trouble broke out between an RUC mobile support unit and a crowd of revellers out celebrating St Patrick's Day. One young man was injured when RUC men in riot gear hit him in the leg and face. (IN, RUC, RM)

A 30 strong gang of loyalists attacked several Catholic homes on Craigwell Avenue in Portadown. (IN, CW)

March 19, Monday. A loyalist gunman opened fire on the home of a Catholic family in Cloughmills, Co Antrim. (IN)

March 21, Wednesday. Banners bearing UDA insignia and the slogan "Taigs beware" appeared in the Loyalist Fountain estate on Derry's City side in the latest development in the ongoing sectarian friction around the area in recent weeks. Open confrontation involving petrol bombs and bricks being thrown had largely been dealt with after community workers from both sides met and agreed to patrol their own areas. (see February list of attacks) (DN, CW, PFC, DJ, BBC)

March 22, Thursday. The DUP announced plans to pose a motion of censure against Sinn FE9in Mayor of Derry for not being representative of the whole city. The DUP cited Mr Crumley's refusal to meet Princess Anne on a visit to Derry. (IN, DJ, DN)

The Derry News reported Ulster Unionist Councillor Andrew Davidson's call for a re-think of Derry City Council's decision to award 75% rent money from the Saville Inquiry for the use of the Guildhall, to the Bloody Sunday Trust, adding that it could not be perceived as a cross-community organisation. (DN)

March 23, Friday. Three men, arrested in connection with Stevens's investigation into Pat Finucane's murder, and charged with possessing documents likely to be of use to terrorists, were each given one year suspended sentences in Belfast Crown Court. Fingerprints of the three had been found in June 1989 on photocopies of security force documents taken from Thiepval Barracks in Lisburn. (IN)

March 24, Saturday. Soccer star Neil Lennon was given a warm welcome by Northern Ireland fans during the world cup qualifying game against the Czech Republic. Irish Football Association President Jim Boyce said he believed the "Give Sectarianism the Boot" campaign was having an effect.(IN)

In Derry, stone throwing youths from the nationalist Bogside and loyalist Fountain estates clashed again, this time during a band competition at the Apprentice Boy's Hall. (DJ, DN, BBC, CW)

March 25, Sunday. Trouble flared once again between nationalist and loyalist youths at the Bishop St, Fountain Estate interface. Rival groups of youths were kept apart by an RUC presence. However at about 10pm 5 petrol bombs were thrown from Lower Bennett Street on the nationalist side into the Fountain. The RUC arrested one youth whom they claimed was in possession of a catapult and some marbles. (DN, DJ, BBC, CW)

March 26, Monday. Nationalist youths, believed to be from the Bogside, threw petrol bombs into the Protestant Fountain estate on Derry's predominantly nationalist Cityside. The four petrol bombs are believed to have fallen short of their target. This, the latest in a series of incidents on the Fountain/Long Tower interface, comes only days after youths from the Bogside and Fountain clashed. SDLP councillor Kathleen McCloskey said: "It's only a matter of time until someone is seriously hurt". The DUP's Willie Hay asked for an "acknowledgement from the wider nationalist community that they do not want to force Protestants from the area". (DJ, DN, BBC, CW)

March 27, Tuesday. The group 'Mourne Nationalists for Equality' walked out of talks aimed at breaking the deadlock over murals and graffiti in Kilkeel. A spokesperson said that MNE had walked out of negotiations because of fear that a deal had been struck behind their backs. At issue is the proposal for a number of murals to be painted including one depicting "the first world war 36th Ulster division" - the UVF, say nationalists.(IN)

A delegation of Orangemen from the Portadown District Lodge met First Minister David Trimble in Stormont. The delegation, which included District Master Harold Gracey and spokesman David Jones, handed over a letter asking Mr Trimble to put pressure on the British Prime Minister to "restore their human rights". Mr Trimble said that the Parades' Commission had failed to deliver. BreandE1n Mac Cionnaith of the Garvaghy Road Residents Association said he suspected the Orange Lodge was "trying to formulate an exit strategy from the mediation process". He asked why the Orangemen were seeking political interference in the Drumcree issue rather than going to see the appointed independent mediator Brian Currin. He also accused Mr Trimble of trying to make political gains out of the issue. (IN)

Irish Times journalist Suzanne Breen accepted a A35,000 settlement from Century Newspapers, owners of the Belfast Newsletter, over sectarian comments made by one of its journalists, Charles Fitzgerald, at a Christmas party in 1997. (IN)

March 28, Wednesday. In the Drumbeg estate in Craigavon, on the anniversary of the notorious mobile sweet shop triple murder 10 years ago, a plaque was unveiled to remember victims Katrina Rennie,17, Eileen Duffy, 19, and Brian Frizzell, 29. The three were killed by a UVF gang in circumstances which locals believe point to security force collusion. Earlier in the week a number of UDR men had been refused service in the shop. It is thought that then UVF member Billy Wright orchestrated the attack. No one was ever convicted of the murders. (IN, PFC)

Unionist dominated Coleraine Council voted to fly the Union flag every day of the year outside Council offices. The town's three SDLP councillors walked out in disgust, adding that they were going to challenge the move under Human Rights' legislation. (IN, BBC)

March 29, Thursday. Lawyers for the family of murdered Belfast teenager Peter McBride told the high court in Belfast that the Army Board's decision to retain the two Scots Guards convicted of his murder amounted to racism. Peter McBride's family are seeking to have the Army Board's decision overturned.(IN, PFC)

March 30, Friday. The Derry Journal editorial called for the 300 year old British Act of Settlement, which prohibits Catholics from acceding to the British throne, to be scrapped. (DJ)

The Derry loyalist leader thought to have orchestrated the Greysteel "trick or treat" massacre in 1993 and the recent spate of pipe bomb attacks in the North West, told the Boston Herald that there was a "time bomb waiting to go off unless things change [in the peace process]." The UDA commander, known as the 'Mexican', told the newspaper that the Union was safer during the troubles. He added that there were a number of loyalists primed for attack, with their targets in mind, "just waiting for the nod". (DJ)

Sources:
AN: Andersonstown News.
BT: Belfast Telegraph
BBC: BBC radio and television news, BBC online, Radio Foyle.
CW: Local community workers.
DJ: Derry Journal
DN: Derry News
IN: Irish News
IT Irish Times
NBN: North Belfast News
PFC: Pat Finucane Centre.
RM: RM Distribution.
RTE: Radio TelefEDs C9ireann, the Irish State Broadcasting organisation
RUC: RUC website