SF derides loyalists on street violence claims

Loyalist claims that republicans are masterminding street disorder to boost their vote in next year’s Assembly elections are laughable, a senior Sinn Fein figure claimed tonight.

Sinn Fein Assembly chief whip Alex Maskey, who earlier this month became his party’s first Lord Mayor of Belfast, dismissed claims by the Ulster Political Research Group that republicans were bussing in members of the IRA into flashpoint areas.