Loyalist violence 'threatens peace process' - Kennedy

Loyalist representatives cannot effectively engage in the peace process unless there is an end to paramilitary violence on the streets, British security minister Jane Kennedy warned today.

The UDA has been blamed for a series of hoax bomb alerts and attacks on the homes of staff at Maghaberry Jail where their prisoners have wrecked cells as part a campaign for segregation.

They are due to be kept apart from republicans next month when a £7m (€10.1m) refurbishment scheme at the jail is completed, even though there are fears of more trouble.

Ms Kennedy met with representatives of the Ulster Political Research Group, the UDA’s political wing, at Castle Buildings today.

It followed a decision by loyalists at Maghaberry to call off a so-called hunger strike after just 72 hours.

Afterwards the minister said: “If they (UPRG) genuinely want to engage in the political process and help address the problems of acute economic deprivation which exists in many loyalist areas, they cannot effectively engage against a backdrop of continuing paramilitary activity.”