A group calling itself the Protestant Liberation Force says it carried out this morning's gun attack in County Antrim in which a thirty-nine year old Catholic man was wounded. The Minister for Foreign Affairs, David Andrews, said the attack appeared to be part of a pattern of intimidation of the Nationalist community by dissident Loyalists in south Antrim. The man is recovering in hospital after he was shot in what the RUC described as a sectarian attack carried out by loyalist paramilitaries. Both the UVF and the UFF have denied any involvement.
The victim was hit in the chest and leg as he arrived for work at a building site on the loyalist Carnhill Walk in Carrickfergus. He was approached by two gun men who shot him in the chest and leg. He was rushed to the Mater Hospital in Belfast where his injuries are said not to be life threatening. A burned out car, believed to have been used by the gunmen, was found in a nearby estate. The victim had been renovating houses in the area for the past year.
This afternoon, David Andrews condemned the shooting, saying he was "appalled by this latest attack on a member of the nationalist community going about his daily life". Mr Andrews said "in the face of such outrages, I have said many times that we must redouble our efforts to implement the will of the people in the Good Friday Agreement. I say it again today and I urged those who are engaged in this barbaric violence to desist." The Alliance Party leader Seam Neeson said, “yet again an innocent man going about his everyday work had become the victim of ruthless and savage bigots.”
There has been much concern about the activities of loyalist paramilitaries such as the Orange Volunteers and the Red Hand Defenders. Since January they have been involved in over a hundred grenade, pipe bomb and petrol bomb attacks on catholic homes. The Red hand Defenders also murdered Lurgan solicitor Rosemary Nelson.
