Brutal Sectarian Attack In North Belfast
The seasonal upsurge in sectarian attacks in the Six Counties has continued over the past week, with the latest incident being a vicious assault on a young north Belfast man. Niall Ferrin received a fractured skull when he was hit with a golf club on Friday (June 29). As if this was not enough the loyalist gang responsible then tied a wire around Niall’s neck and dragged him along the road, until local residents intervened.
The 15-year-old had been chatting to another boy and two young girls near his Oldpark home when the gang emerged from a nearby alleyway. One of the attackers – all of whom are believed to be in their 20’s or 30’s and wearing hoods – hit the boy over the head with a golf driver. In addition to the fractured skull Niall also experienced a loss of memory, incoherent speech and, initially, blindness and deafness.
His mother Patricia believes the gang were out to kill “Before he went unconscious, he remembers looking up and they were still hitting him,” she said. “Niall was in the wrong place at the wrong time. He is an innocent Catholic.
“The gang who did this were not going out to play golf. They were going out to kill. He is a small boy, lightly made-up – they knew they were attacking a child.”
Nationalist residents gathered at Cliftonpark Avenue on Monday (July 2) in act of solidarity for Niall and his family and to call for a halt to the attacks. Although one man was arrested in connection with the brutal attack he has since been released on bail.
Details of the attack emerged on the same day it was revealed that the far-right British National Party plans to use the Orange marching season as cover for a recruitment drive in the occupied area. The fascist initiative was ironically highlighted by another unionist politician. The BNP has promoted racist policies in Britain for many years and has always been a strong supporter of imperialism in Ireland.
Ulster Unionist assembly member Danny Kennedy condemned the move and said, “this isn’t the kind of imported hate-mongering that we don’t want or need in Northern Ireland (sic).”
The DUP were also scathing and said that “the type of hatred that is promulgated by the BNP has no place in our society.”
However, Éirígí spokesperson Dáithí Mac An Mháistir called the attitude of the main unionist parties hypocritical in the extreme.
“It is a bit rich for the UUP and the DUP to be complaining about the ‘imported hatred’ of the BNP, although they’ve at least had the honesty to qualify their condemnation by eluding to a ‘kind of’ hatred which is not welcome.
“Since the foundation of the Six County state the major unionist parties have colluded with the sectarian campaigns of the pro-British death-squads, while they have openly supported the murderous activities of the official state forces. Indeed, the Ulster Unionists were, for 50 years, in control of a one-party system that would be the envy of the BNP and all other racists.”
Dáithí continued: “The DUP and UUP know exactly why fascist groupings like the BNP are attracted to the Orange marching season – because it amounts to a festival of sectarian hatred. It would not be implausible to suggest that the real reason the leaders of unionism in the Six Counties resent this encroachment into their festival is because of the limited number of votes available in the pro-British constituency in Ireland.
“If these parties are really serious about putting clear blue water between themselves and the BNP, they should use their undoubted influence to put an end to attacks like the one on Niall Ferrin.”