Loyalists attack Catholic homes

Two Catholic families have escaped injury after loyalists threw blast bombs at their homes in east Belfast last night.

The attacks happened on Bryson Street in the nationalist Short Strand enclave.

One of the targeted houses has been attacked twice before and Martina McGuigan, who has lived there for 10 years, said she has now had enough and is moving her family out.

The residents of the Short Strand have experienced almost daily loyalist attacks in recent months and now fear that the suspension of the Assembly and Executive could lead to an upsurge in loyalist paramilitary activity.