Unions urge UDA to end sectarian attacks

Senior trade union officials in the North secretly met with leading members of the Ulster Defence Association last Thursday to demand an end to sectarian attacks, it emerged today.

John White, a former member of the UDP, the UDA’s political wing, said the meeting took place following the funeral of 19-year-old Gerard Lawlor, a Catholic shot dead by the UDA on July 21.

Mr White said the UDA complained that trade unions are selectively condemning loyalist attacks and ignoring republican attacks, but the union representatives insisted they are opposed to all sectarian violence.

The North’s trade unions are supporting an anti-sectarianism rally in Belfast this Friday which was organised by Sinn Fein Lord Mayor Alex Maskey.