Protest passes peacefully after Reid ultimatum

Loyalists staged a peaceful demonstration on the Crumlin Road after Northern Ireland Secretary Dr John Reid gave the Ulster Defence Association one last chance to stop its violence or have its ceasefire declared over.

In the same protest which preceded the loyalist violence of the previous four nights, the protesters, mainly women and children, last night dispersed peacefully after an hour.

Dr Reid and the RUC were watching events closely to see whether the UDA stood by its commitment to call a halt to the rioting.

He had been preparing to make the declaration yesterday afternoon but changed his mind at the last minute after being given assurances by the loyalist leadership that the trouble would stop.

Dr Reid said it was ‘‘a wake-up call’’ for anyone who thought they could drag Northern Ireland back to its dark and violent past.

The reprieve was attacked both by Sinn Fein and by the hardline unionist Democratic Unionist Party.

At a news conference at Hillsborough Castle, Co Down, which Dr Reid freely admitted was called to announce the official end of the ceasefire, he had in his hand the official document which he said he had intended to sign this afternoon.

A last-minute briefing with RUC Chief Constable Sir Ronnie Flanagan took place just before his change of mind.

He said he had changed course because ‘‘it was communicated to me that the leadership of the UDA has accepted the damage violence is doing to individuals and the damage it is doing to the peace process and has decided to bring that violence to a halt’’.

If the organisation’s leaders truly intended to call a halt, they had the capacity to do so, he said.

While he was ‘‘deeply sceptical’’ of any words emanating from the UDA, he said: ‘‘Even at this eleventh hour I am prepared to put the UDA to the test.’’

There would be no more chances, he said.

He warned: ‘‘I will judge the UDA by its actions tonight, tomorrow night and every night.

‘‘If there is a continuation of pipe bomb attacks and attacks on the security forces, the UDA will be specified. They will be tested every day.

‘‘There will be no warning, no ultimatum, no further statements. This is a wake-up call for anyone who thinks they can drag Northern Ireland to the violence and sectarian violence of the past.’’

He told the paramilitary group the tolerance of the people of Northern Ireland and the Government had come to an end.

Dr Reid said he had decided yesterday to specify the UDA and had only changed his mind less than 90 minutes before the time he had chosen to make the announcement.

Declaring the UDA ceasefire over would not mean the immediate return to prison of all its members given early release under the Good Friday Agreement.

But it would send a message throughout Northern Ireland and the rest of the United Kingdom and internationally that the organisation which had signed up to the peace process had reneged on its decision.

Democratic Unionist Ian Paisley Jnr said Dr Reid’s decision was pathetic and accused the Government of presenting the paramilitaries with a licence to kill.

He said: ‘‘The reality is the UDA has got off the hook because the Government knows that if they specify one paramilitary group, they will have to specify them all.’’

Sinn Fein said the decision was remarkable.

Party president Gerry Adams said the decision was ‘‘another blunder’’ which was ‘‘pandering to the worst elements in unionism’’.