McDaid murder raises questions about PSNI

WHILE I fully agree that the Ryan report on the abuse of children in institutions run by the religious in Ireland warrants the blanket coverage being afforded to it in your letters pages, it is to be hoped that, by default, the random sectarian murder of Kevin McDaid in Coleraine, who was kicked to death just because he was a Catholic by a loyalist mob celebrating the victory of Glasgow Rangers in the Scottish Premier League, will not be ignored.

The randomly sectarian murders of Robert Hamill, Thomas Devlin and Michael McIlveen, all innocent Catholics, along with the latest murder of Kevin McDaid, calls into question the adequacy of policing in the North.

As in the cases of Robert Hamill and Michael McIlveen, there are allegations that members of the PSNI were present when Mr McDaid was murdered and failed to intervene. On a positive note, the PSNI chief constable is to be commended for referring the killing to the Ombudsman’s Office for investigation so swiftly.