January 26, 2004 UPRG in Boycott Catholics Call
by Liz Trainor, The People

Loyalist paramilitaries have urged Protestants in north Antrim to boycott Catholic-owned bars and shops.

A statement by the Ulster Political Research Group - which offers political analysis to the UDA - congratulating the DUP on their recent election success. But in a more sinister turn the statement, which was carried in the local press, warned Protestants to be on the alert over the growth in the Catholic population.

It reminds Protestants to think before they shop or drink because they could be supporting nationalists.

"For too long Protestant people have ignored what is happening in Ulster," the statement reads.

"They have slowly been ethnically cleansed in the city side of Londonderry; the same has taken place in border areas and republicans seek to do the same in other areas.

"So the next time you shop or drink think who you are supporting, because more than six thousand people voted for a party linked to people who have bombed, shot, killed and maimed people."

Sinn Féin assembly member for north Antrim Philip McGuigan described the statement as "shocking".

"In recent weeks we have seen a rise in racially motivated attacks with loyalists denying any involvement, yet here we have a statement from the UPRG calling on people not to do business on properties owned by Catholics.

"This is clearly sectarian and racially motivated and is an attempt on the part of the UDA 'not to have a Fenian about the place'.

"This is symptomatic of the type of politics pursued by unionists in north Antrim."