Finian McGrath
Ceist:464 Mr. F. McGrath asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he will intervene on behalf of the residents of Short Strand, Belfast, and stop sectarianism in this area. [15455/02]
Vol. 554 No. 5
464 Mr. F. McGrath asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he will intervene on behalf of the residents of Short Strand, Belfast, and stop sectarianism in this area. [15455/02]
473 Mr. F. McGrath asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs his views on the fact that 90% of the violence in Northern Ireland over the summer period came from loyalist sources; and the plans the Government has to protect the Northern minority. [15539/02]
474 Mr. F. McGrath asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he will investigate and support the Northern minority in their efforts against the pogrom that seems to be ignored by many people in the South. [15540/02]
475 Mr. F. McGrath asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if his attention has been drawn to the fact that sections of loyalism are trying to goad republicans back to armed conflict; and his plans to tackle this serious matter. [15541/02]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 464 and 473 to 475, inclusive, together.
Over the past year and a half, and continuing through the height of the marching season this summer, intense sectarian violence has blighted a number of areas of Northern Ireland. Certain interface areas in Belfast have been particularly affected by sectarian attacks ranging from pipe-bomb campaigns to individual assaults. This sustained violence has resulted in a number of deaths and many injuries. Many families have been intimidated out of their homes. Since the start of the year, two young men were murdered by loyalist paramilitaries for purely sectarian motives: Daniel McColgan, a 20 year-old postal worker shot dead in Rathcoole on 12 January, and Gerard Lawlor, aged 19, shot dead on the Whitewell Road in North Belfast on 22 July. In addition, Chris Whitson, a 20 year old student, died on 12 August following a sectarian assault outside a nightclub in Portrush.
The situation was particularly acute in the Short Strand area of East Belfast during the summer months, beginning in mid-May. Officials of the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Government's representatives based at the British-Irish Intergovernmental Secretariat in Belfast were in ongoing contact with local elected and community representatives during these disturbances, including visiting the area on a regular basis to assess the situation at first hand. Because of this presence on the ground, the Government was kept fully appraised of developments as they occurred. In regular, often hourly, contacts with the British Government, we stressed the urgent need for effective and impartial policing and increased security measures to protect the residents of the Short Strand and other interface areas.