Loyalist mob forces Catholics to flee homes

A LOYALIST mob yesterday forced terrified Catholic families to flee their homes at a flashpoint area of North Belfast.

At least one man was injured when the gang, including known members of the Ulster Defence

Association, moved into the Deerpark Road area carrying bricks and petrol bombs. Schoolgirls wept in fear as they were driven from their homes and one young man was hit in the face by a brick. Local Catholics said the UDA no longer wanted them to live on the road and they had received a growing number of threats to leave in the past few days.

One woman who asked not to be named said: “We have always got on well with our Protestant neighbours and we are not blaming them for this.

“We don’t want to go but we have to for the safety of our children.

“The attacks on our houses have been getting worse and worse and it is only a matter of time before some one is hurt.”

Other residents helped the fleeing families to move their furniture and personal belongings.

At least four families have already been forced out, some of whom have lived in the once-quiet residential street for a number of years. The few remaining Catholics fear they will be forced to leave soon.

Locals accuse the police of standing back and doing nothing.

“They are afraid of starting major trouble so they do nothing while these thugs are allowed to do what they want,” one woman said.

No police spokesman was available for comment.

Among those who have received threats is an elderly Protestant woman who has lived in the area for most of her life.

“They want me out just because I have always been friendly with my Catholic neighbours, but I am not going. This has been my home for more years than I care to remember and they will have to take me out of here in a coffin,” she said.