'Vigilantes' force dozens out of Derry
Up to 40 men have been forced out of a city by a republican vigilante group who shot dead a dad-of-two, it has been claimed.
Andrew Allen was gunned down through a window of his home in Buncrana, Co Donegal, after a group of men tried to break down the front door.
The 24-year-old was from the Top of the Hill area of Waterside, Derry, where he was intimidated from about six months ago.
Parish priest Fr Michael Canny claimed a group called Republican Action Against Drugs had become self-appointed executors in the city and were responsible for the attack.
“At some stage last year between the Waterside and Cityside areas as many as 36 or 37 people have been exiled from their community and families,” he said.
“The people are being exiled because these vigilantes claim they are involved in anti-social activity like breaking into houses and selling drugs.
“They are imposing their law on people as judge and jury and now executor.
“They have guns and obviously they are prepared to use them,” he added.
Fr Cranny believes the victim, whose mother still lives in Derry, is the first of the group of men who fled the city to be shot.
Armed men opened fire on a house on the Links View estate in Buncrana after 9pm last night. Mr Allen’s 34-year-old girlfriend escaped uninjured.
A silver Vauxhall Cavalier – registration SJI 2117 – was later found burnt-out in the townland of Ballybone in nearby Fahan – where a second getaway car is believed to have been waiting.
Gardaí have appealed for information on anyone acting suspiciously in the area in recent days.
The priest said the killers had no place in a civilised society and backed the appeals of politicians for anyone with information on the murder to assist police.
Cross-party politicians also condemned the gun attack, which shocked residents in the quiet Inishowen peninsula.
Jonathan Craig, a DUP member of the Northern Ireland Policing Board, said there is no place for vigilante justice.
“These people, like those who carried out the murderous attacks at Massereene, speak for no-one and represent no-one in Northern Ireland,” he said.
“They are a fanatical micro-group who arrogantly assumed the right to act as the judge, jury and executioner of a 24-year-old father of two.”
Sinn Féin’s Raymond McCartney said a life has been cut short and a family plunged into grief and despair.
“People north and south have rejected these actions. They need to stop immediately,” he said.
Keith McGrellis, of the Alliance Party, said he was disgusted at the actions of those behind this brutal and callous murder.
“This barbaric murder has sent shockwaves through the whole community and those behind this must be brought swiftly to justice,” he added.
“The community has nothing but utter contempt for those who carry out acts of this nature.”
The SDLP’s Pat Ramsey added: “The community of Derry has suffered enough and it is time for these organisations to move on.”
A PSNI spokesman would not confirm claims about Republican Action Against Drugs and said it would not discuss the personal security of individuals.
“Where we receive information that a person needs to review their personal security we take steps to inform them,” he said.
“We never ignore anything that may put an individual at risk.”
