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Sectarian murder in Coleraine

category national | miscellaneous | opinion/analysis author Sunday June 07, 2009 20:17author by Sean Matthews(personal capacity) - Workers Solidarity Movement-Belfast branch. Report this post to the editors

The brutal sectarian murder of voluntary community worker Kevin McDaid in Coleraine has again exposed the ugly face of sectarianism in Northern Ireland and the fallacy of the so-called peace settlement.

On Sunday 24thMay, father-of-four, Kevin McDaid, 49, was murdered by a loyalist gang wielding hatchets and baseball bats in front of his wife and son. His wife, a protestant and a pregnant neighbour were also assaulted, while another victim, Damien Fleming remains in a critical condition after coming to his aid, during the assault in the mixed Heights estate in the town.

The victims claimed that during the attack the loyalist thugs shouted UDA (Ulster Defence Association). At least eight people have been charged in connection with the murder including a former member of the now defunct, UDA-linked Ulster Democratic Party. Kevin McDaid’s son, Ryan has also been warned by the police that his life is under threat. Officially, the Ulster Political Research Group which is the political wing of the UDA, have denied UDA involvement. How many times have we heard this from paramilitary organisations?

In recent years, the public face of the UDA have been keen to present a media friendly image to shore up funding of their various community programmes and get a slice of the sectarian carve up in the North. They remain a ruthless sectarian militia riddled by competing factions and criminality. Given the autonomous internal structure of the UDA based on ‘brigades’ it remains unclear the influence of the ‘central leadership’.

It is believed local PSNI were in contact with residents in the Heights estate after tri-colours were erected in the Somerset Drive area, and loyalists in the hours leading up to the attack. To allegedly prevent any disturbances, after loyalists were seen gathering in the city centre following the Celtic and Rangers football match

The family have launched a formal complaint to the police ombudsman following allegations that police where in negotiation with loyalists up to an hour before the assault. Local residents have also criticised the lack of police response and protection.

One resident spoke to the Belfast Telegraph, but declined to be named said: “They sent only one police car. Then after Kevin McDaid was dead there were four police Land Rovers with riot squad – so they knew this was going to happen.”(1)

The Sunday World newspaper claimed that a senior UDA man told them that a police officer sent a text to one of the loyalists saying: “The Tricolours are still up in the town — are yis real men or what?” This apparent failure of the police to intervene and their facilitation of his murder has resulted in nationalists comparing the murder to the that of Robert Hamill in 1997 who was kicked to death by a loyalist mob in Portadown in full view of a RUC landrover 200 yards away from a RUC police barracks.

The media have been keen to blame the preceding football match between Celtic and Rangers for the trouble. Undoubtedly, these matches do raise tensions, particularly at sectarian interfaces but since when has sectarian gangs from any quarter needed an excuse to attack people from the opposite religion or anyone else in their way? Sadly, In this case it was ‘any fenian (lover) will do’.

Following the murder, condemnation and reaction from politicians was relatively muted in comparison to the recent killing of two British soldiers and a PSNI officer, where there was a massive public outcry. Unionist politicians have been disgracefully noticeable by their absence at the funeral of Kevin McDaid citing assembly or constituent business.

Anti-sectarian rallies have been organised thus far in Derry and Belfast and in communities across the North. To date there has been no such rally in Coleraine. On Tuesday June 2nd, community workers organised a rally outside Belfast City Hall which was sponsored by the Irish Congress of Trade Unions. Even though it was organised at short notice, the attendance was small and disappointing, compared to the hundreds of others enjoying the sunshine on the lawn of the City Hall. Speakers included Patricia McKeown, as well as Catholic and Protestant clergymen. WSM and Organise! members were in attendance along with 300 community workers, trade unionists and others.

While symbolic events such as this are essential and a positive step forward, reciting pie-in-the-sky moralistic prayers and appealing to our politicians will never wash away the evils of sectarianism.

The various shades of nationalism and unionism only offers us further division, suspicion and fear which serves the interests of the bosses. If we are serious about ending sectarian divisions, we must begin with ending Church control over our schools and working towards smashing the “peace walls” which remain a permanent barrier between communities. Workplace and community based struggles and other grassroots networks across the divide represent small steps towards building confidence and solidarity between the ordinary working people of Northern Ireland.

Finally, the struggle against sectarianism cannot be divorced from the struggle against the state and capital. How can we truly eradicate sectarianism while we have the institutionalised sectarian carve-up at Stormont between sectarian parties who merely ‘manage’ sectarianism and squabble over the crumbs from Westminster?

References
1& 2 http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/s....html

For reference

Coleraine is predominately a unionist town and located in County Derry. It has experienced its fair share of sectarian trouble and the gradual decline of the once thriving manufacturing industry in the area

Related Link: http://www.wsm.ie
author by ronan gallagherpublication date Mon Jun 08, 2009 15:34author address author phone Report this post to the editors

Barricades had gone up in the nationalist enclave in anticipation of a loyalist attack that weekend , but the PSNI persuaded residents to take them down . Kevin had been speaking to the community policing sergeant only 45 minutes before his murder and had actually been part of the team that helped dismantle the barricades.
Evelyn McDaid’s , solicitor issued a statement expressing the family’s concern over police negotiations with loyalists prior to the attack :

"The family wish to make it clear that they are concerned that the PSNI were involved in negotiations with a number of persons perceived to be from the Loyalist community on Sunday, May 24. They are concerned regarding the nature of these negotiations and the attendant claim that threats were made by individuals from this background to police that violence would ensue unless certain demands made by them were met.”

If the police had been aware of threats issued by loyalists , why didn't they call for reinforcements ? If dissident republicans had made threats to invade a protestant area with baseball bats and cudgels surely the response would have been much different.
In the statement he issued to reporters after the murder, Assistant Chief Constable Albert Finlay made no mention of the PSNI entering into negotiations with loyalists . He referred to the attackers as “ fifteen drunken males” at one point in the statement - that was when he was trying to downplay any suggestion of an organized loyalist involvement in the murder. A few words later though, when excusing the unwillingness of the PSNI to intervene to help either Kevin McDaid ,his wife or their neighbour Daniel Fleming , Assistant Chief Constable Finlay spoke about fierce hand to hand fighting involving sixty men .

author by common sensepublication date Mon Jun 08, 2009 21:37author address author phone Report this post to the editors

Like many people I was appalled by the brutal murder of a Catholic man in Coleraine, the
attack on another gentleman and the assault on two women, one of whom was pregnant. Since
anti-Catholic sectarianism has long been rife in NI and indeed seems to be endemic, I
would like to know why very little appears to have been done to combat it.
Just for starters, I personally would like to see some or all of the following
initiatives being implemented:
1)A mass media campaign/Ads promoting anti-sectarianism on every billboard
2)Soap operas on TV and radio
3)Obligatory classes/discussion groups on UN human rights, EU fundamental freedoms,
tolerance and anti-sectarianism in schools, community halls, workplaces, trades unions,
professional and sporting associations etc
4)Highly visible posters celebrating diversity in all workplaces, police stations, shops,
government offices, libraries, hospitals etc
5)Ask people what they are prepared to do to get to know "the other sort". Set up systems
to facilitate whatever they want.If nothing, get them counselling to overcome resistance
to meeting individuals from the other half of the population
6)Participation across the divides in meetings/coffee mornings/tea parties/ joint
activties/sporting events/day trips/visits to cinema,theatre, lectures,exhibitions,
cultural events/twinning streets, street parties etc.

If a proper plan were to be drawn up and set in motion, it would obviously cost money but funds are probably available from the EU and/or
the USA Emerald fund. Besides helping to modify prejudice and bias in the north, or if you prefer Northern Ireland or the Occupied Six Counties, a similar
programme of action will also serve to generate employment and help combat hardship
caused by the curent economic climate.

 
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