Republicans urged to help during fire strike

Republicans in Derry were today urged to rein in youths who stoned police after the British army put out a suspected arson attack.

The city’s former mayor, Annie Courtney, was horrified that missiles were pelted at a Land Rover leaving the scene of a blaze after a firefighters’ strike began.

Sinn Fein has urged Catholics to let the British army Goddesses get on with their job during the 48-hour industrial action.

The crew of one of the military Goddesses, painted yellow in Ulster, extinguished the blaze at a shed in the Shantallow area of Derry.

But police said that as an accompanying Land Rover left the scene a crowd of youths began hurling missiles. No injuries were reported during the attack on Moss Road.

With hoax calls stretching the emergency resources, Mrs Courtney insisted this truce should be extended to all security forces.

The SDLP Assemblywoman said: “It’s quite dreadful that this should have happened in Derry.

“If Sinn Fein feel they can’t control their members then we are in trouble.”

The stoning attack happened last night as some of the 32 Goddesses and 500 military personnel deployed in Northern Ireland were called into action.

Well over 100 calls were received at the control room set up at police headquarters in Belfast, but none of them was serious.

Most of these were hoaxes, police said.

In Belfast the crew of two Goddesses put out a major blaze at a derelict cinema building on the Crumlin Road.

A minor fire was also reported at Maysfield Leisure Centre in the city. This was caused by faulty machinery.

As the emergency services prepared for a full day of action, Acting Fire Chief Peter Craig urged the public to be extra vigilant.

“Everybody understands that the contingency arrangements do not equate to the normal standards of fire cover,” he said.

“The key issue here is that people can manage out the risk – they can stop that fire before it starts and the standard of fire cover shouldn’t be an issue for people to worry about.”