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Sectarian murder in Coleraine
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opinion/analysis
Sunday June 07, 2009 20:17 by Sean Matthews(personal capacity) - Workers Solidarity Movement-Belfast branch.
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. |
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Jump To Comment: 3 2 1Like 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.
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 .
Two other, better statements on the matter.
http://www.socialistdemocracy.org/RecentArticles/Recent....html
http://www.eirigi.org/latest/latest280509.html