Bishop Walsh slams sectarian UDA murder

The Bishop of Down and Connor, Dr Patrick Walsh, has accused the Ulster Defence Association of murdering Catholic teenager Gerard Lawlor out or raw sectarian hatred.

The Bishop of Down and Connor, Dr Patrick Walsh, has accused the Ulster Defence Association of murdering Catholic teenager Gerard Lawlor out of raw sectarian hatred.

Speaking at Mr Lawlor’s funeral, Dr Walsh also accused certain politicians of dancing on the young man’s grave for political gain.

He urged both nationalists and unionists to join forces and oppose sectarianism in all its forms. Earlier today, Mr Lawlor’s funeral cortege stopped at the spot near Whitwell Road where a UDA gunman shot the 19-year-old five times at point-blank range.

The UDA said the murder was retaliation for the earlier shooting of a Protestant man in nearby Glenbryn, believed to have been carried out by the INLA.