Unionist MP supports anti-Catholic threats
LOYALISTS launched a "witch-hunt" against Catholics living in the
Village area of south Belfast at the end of June. Posters were pasted
up in streets throughout the mainly Protestant district warning
Catholics to leave their homes within a week.
The poster warned: "In the light of current events, as from 12
noon on the 1st of July 1997 the loyalist people of the
Village/Donegall Road will no longer be able to guarantee the safety
of any nationalist who chooses to remain within the area, nor can
they guarantee the safety of any property where nationalists are
dwelling."
The chilling Nazi-like warnings said the current political climate
meant it was "unwise to have a nationalist as a neighbour and even
worse to befriend one", adding: "Do you know who lives next door to
you?"
Former Orange Order Grand Master and current Official Unionist MP
for the area, Rev Martin Smyth, said the posters were
"understandable" given recent events both within and outside the area
and blamed republican activity for the threat.
He refused to condemn the threat to Catholics in the area. The
poster said residents in the Village had tolerated "the nationalist
scum that have flooded the area in recent years" for long enough.
"This alarming increase of nationalists is largely due to the
unscrupulous behaviour of greedy landlords who have taken advantage
of the loyalist ceasefire," said the poster. "In their greed they
have accepted every nationalist without considering the detrimental
effect that it has had on the loyalist community."
Most nationalists living in the area are students and nurses who
live there because of the comparatively cheap rents close to Queen's
University and the two main hospitals.
