Neo-Nazis have threatened me, says Ulster assembly member

Neo-Nazis have threatened to burn down the home of an outspoken Northern Ireland Assembly member, he claimed tonight.

John Dallat, a nationalist SDLP representative, said the Combat 18 grouping also warned they were plotting to set fire to his offices.

The East Derry MLA believes that the far-right grouping with links to extreme loyalists targeted him because he spoke out about their re-emergence in his constituency.

He said: “They phoned my office and told one of my staff they were going to torch it and my home.”

Mr Dallat already has bullet-proof windows installed at his house after angering terrorists in the past.

But, as police investigated the latest threat, he pledged to stop racist and sectarian thugs gaining a foothold in the area.

He said he attracted their attention after condemning fly-posters plastered over Catholic-owned properties in Garvagh, Co Derry, declaring “Combat 18 is back”.

“Presumably that is the reason why threats have been made to torch my office or home,” he said.

“I’m more concerned about my two staff – they were distraught.

“This practice is deeply distressing to my staff but it won’t deter me from speaking out against hate-mongers and insisting that their racist fly posters are removed from property as soon as they appear.

“Previous campaigns to launch Combat 18 and other racist groups in the Coleraine area failed and I am determined that any future attempt will equally fail.”

A Police Service of Northern Ireland spokesman said the force would not comment on an individual’s personal security.