Police chief warns against 'tribal violence'

More victims of the sectarian hatred that drove a gang to beat a Catholic schoolboy to death are going undetected, Northern Ireland‘s Chief Constable warned tonight.

Hugh Orde claimed bigoted thugs were emerging from a new generation, and likened the horrific attack on Michael McIlveen, 15, to the tribal violence he witnessed on the streets of London.

As Michael’s devastated mother, Gina, laid flowers on the alleyway in Ballymena, Co Antrim where he was beaten with a baseball bat, Sir Hugh urged schools and parents to help police instil tolerance.

With five suspects still being questioned about the attack, the Chief Constable said: “This was a young kid that was killed, 15, and the people arrested are young.

“This is the next generation, and lets not tar or identify every young person as someone who’s into sectarian crime.

“But there are people from the next generation who are prepared to go out looking for people, on both sides, it‘s a two-way thing.”

The murder has stunned Ballymena, a predominantly Protestant town increasingly gripped by sectarian tensions.

Michael was chased half a mile from an entertainment complex early on Sunday after going with friends to buy a pizza.

He was cornered, then bludgeoned mercilessly before having his head stamped on, his family said.

The St Patrick’s High School student staggered home to the Dunvale estate but was then rushed to the Antrim Area Hospital where he eventually lost his fight for life.

Heartbroken relatives were by his bed as the life support machine was switched off on Wednesday night.

Michael’s uncle, Francis McIlveen, told of their anguish.

“They just can’t believe it that wee Michael’s gone, a wee child, 15-years-of-age, lying in that bed, dead,” he said.

Even though the gang warfare being waged by rival Protestant and Catholic youths in Ballymena has forced police to increase patrols, Sir Hugh insisted the town was not “a centre of evil”.

He recognised most of the public across Northern Ireland wanted an integrated society with respect for diversity, yet claimed a minority still saw nothing wrong with sectarianism.

“We need to achieve a cultural shift, it needs to be seen as clearly unacceptable,” the Chief Constable said.

“It‘s absolutely a role for us, but it‘s a role for education, it‘s a role for communities, it‘s a role for families.

“We will do our best to bring people to justice, but people need to speak to us, people need to tell us the real level of this.

“Because are we capturing the real level of this? I don‘t think so.

“I would not be surprised if more people are victims of this than we are getting.”

He added: “Let‘s not create something that doesn’t exist.

“But there are pockets within this place where (people believe) it is still okay to attack someone because of their religion – on both sides – where it is appropriate to wind people up by putting flags where we know they are not wanted.

“This is tribalism. In London we had gangs.

“Is it different? No, in London I was dealing with gangs – exactly the same, they were attacking people because they lived on different housing estates.”

Michael’s mother fought back tears to tell how he never had any enemies.

“My son was a great child. Everybody loved him, just the way I loved him,” Ms McIlveen told BBC Radio Ulster.

“He got on with everybody. He had loads of Catholic friends and loads of Protestant friends.

“I just can‘t understand this at all. He didn‘t deserve it.”

Hundreds of young people held vigils and laid floral tributes at the scene of the attack.

Among the affectionate messages from friends there were references to his nickname, Micky-bo, and a card which read: “You were a good mate to everyone who knew you. Everyone is proud to have called you a friend.”

Another said: “Just look down on your family. They need you most.”

At one stage his mother broke down and wept in the arms of relatives, overcome with grief.

During a special school assembly at St Patrick’s, principal Kate Magee spoke of the shock that such a popular pupil was gone.

She said: “We feel very much his loss. We are supporting one another.

“It is very much a whole community effort to try to support the young people.”

Amid fears of revenge attacks, the leaders of three Protestant marching organisations issued an appeal for calm.

Orange Order Grand Master Robert Saulters, the Grand Master of the Independent Loyal Orange Institution George Dawson and the Sovereign Grand Master of the Royal Black Institution, William Logan, insisted there could be no justification for the killing.

In a statement they appealed to members of their community with information about the attack to help the police investigation.

They added: “No claim to political loyalty or religious affiliation can possibly justify such a reprehensible and wicked crime.

“We call for an immediate end to inter-community conflict in Ballymena and elsewhere, and we would urge anyone with information to come forward quickly and help the police investigation.

“It is essential that those responsible for Michael McIlveen’s cowardly murder face the full rigour of the law and pay the penalty for their crime.”

The murder drew total condemnation from all political representatives, including Ian Paisley, the Democratic Unionist MP for Ballymena who met and prayed with the McIlveens.

Also among those who condemned the attack were Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams, Northern Ireland Secretary Peter Hain, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, Ulster Unionist leader Sir Reg Empey, cross-community Alliance Party representative Jayne Dunlop and Northern Ireland Policing Board chairman Sir Desmond Rea.

Concerns were also expressed about a youth website where allegations about the murder were made.

Sean Farren, a nationalist MLA for North Antrim, called on schools in Ballymena to stop pupils posting claims about other teenagers on the site, warning it could heighten sectarian tensions in the town.