Belfast council backs motion condemning Reid remarks

Belfast City Council has passed a resolution condemning Fr Alec Reid's controversial remarks about unionists and Nazis.

Fr Reid, who is regarded as one of the main architects of the peace process, angered unionists last month when he compared them to Nazis and said they had treated Catholics like animals.

He made the comments while being heckled at a public meeting and later apologised, saying he had been provoked.

Hardline unionists, however, are attempting to use the matter to undermine Fr Reid's credibility as one of two independent clergymen who witnessed IRA decommissioning.

Last night, the Democratic Unionist Party tabled a resolution at Belfast City Council deploring the remarks for the damage they have caused to community relations.

Some councillors, including the UUP's Jim Rodgers, accepted that Fr Reid had apologised, but the DUP's Nelson McCausland insisted the issue was still live and it was time nationalists accepted they had sectarian views towards Protestants.

The motion was subsequently passed by 20 votes, with 17 abstentions.