Reid Nazi remark stokes up political storm

FATHER Alec Reid, one of the churchmen who witnessed IRA decommissioning last month was at the centre of a political storm last night despite his apology for comparing unionists to Nazis.

The Catholic priest apologised profusely for his words but was condemned by unionists and by North Secretary Peter Hain on the floor of the House of Commons. Challenged by Democratic Unionist MP Sammy Wilson to admonish the Redemptorist priest, Mr Hain responded: “Although Father Alec Reid has apparently apologised for those remarks, of course I condemn what he said.”

Ulster Unionist Party leader Reg Empey said Fr Reid had destroyed confidence in the decommissioning process. “How can the word of somebody using that sort of language be taken seriously,” he asked. The apologetic priest said he lost it in the heat of the moment during angry exchanges at a public meeting on IRA weapons decommissioning in a Belfast church last night.