NEW LOW NEEDS NEW BEGINNING
New low needs new beginning
Just when you think they can't go any lower, the Loyalist butchers of the UDA pull another one from their bag of dirty tricks. Yet the wave of revulsion that followed the cold-blooded murder of Belfast postal worker Daniel McColgan surely marks a new depth for those who kill for 'God and Ulster'.
Dano was killed because he was a Catholic; he was killed because he was a soft target for skulking cowards; and because the UDA has nothing to offer other than bloodletting and bullying to shore up its dirty drugs trade.
Yet not only did the UDA 'wipe out' a young man recognised as a good father, good son, good partner and good worker, they promised the same terrible fate for other postal workers and teachers so long as they're Catholic. It is a chilling prospect only put on hold by the loud and strident cross-community cries that this is more than enough already.
Yet Dano was only the last in a long catalogue of victims of Loyalist killers who have tried to trample peace to death with murders, pipe bombs, intimidation of their own communities and others. They even killed off their own political wing, the UDP, at least one of whose leaders was clearly committed to political co-existence with nationalists.
A sorry list it makes a shocking 99 victims of paramilitary murder, the vast majority carried out by the UDA in any one of its various guises. The result of each political promise that there will be no 'hiding place' for such killers rings as hollow as the pledge made after the Omagh bomb.
Yet the constant bleating over IRA arms decommissioning that has merely prolonged the process of carving out a peaceful future for all those who live in the North has virtually ignored Loyalist paramilitary groups. The 'new start' to policing has seen no change in the cosy accommodation of Loyalist thugs; no more than it has changed the attitude of the still all-powerful Special Branch to investigation of murders and other crimes possibly instigated at its behest and certainly ignored with its collusion.
John Reid should mull over that as he surveys the 'cold house' of the North. It is too hot for the victims of the UDA in both Catholic and Protestant communities. Unionist leaders should chew on it as they show more concern for the survival of the Special Branch, while urging reluctant nationalists to trust and support the new policing service.
In the end, it comes down to trust. Trust is won by fairness, not by iron fists. It's a goal worth reaching for in the memory of Dano and other victims.
Just when you think they can't go any lower, the Loyalist butchers of the UDA pull another one from their bag of dirty tricks. Yet the wave of revulsion that followed the cold-blooded murder of Belfast postal worker Daniel McColgan surely marks a new depth for those who kill for 'God and Ulster'.
Dano was killed because he was a Catholic; he was killed because he was a soft target for skulking cowards; and because the UDA has nothing to offer other than bloodletting and bullying to shore up its dirty drugs trade.
Yet not only did the UDA 'wipe out' a young man recognised as a good father, good son, good partner and good worker, they promised the same terrible fate for other postal workers and teachers so long as they're Catholic. It is a chilling prospect only put on hold by the loud and strident cross-community cries that this is more than enough already.
Yet Dano was only the last in a long catalogue of victims of Loyalist killers who have tried to trample peace to death with murders, pipe bombs, intimidation of their own communities and others. They even killed off their own political wing, the UDP, at least one of whose leaders was clearly committed to political co-existence with nationalists.
A sorry list it makes a shocking 99 victims of paramilitary murder, the vast majority carried out by the UDA in any one of its various guises. The result of each political promise that there will be no 'hiding place' for such killers rings as hollow as the pledge made after the Omagh bomb.
Yet the constant bleating over IRA arms decommissioning that has merely prolonged the process of carving out a peaceful future for all those who live in the North has virtually ignored Loyalist paramilitary groups. The 'new start' to policing has seen no change in the cosy accommodation of Loyalist thugs; no more than it has changed the attitude of the still all-powerful Special Branch to investigation of murders and other crimes possibly instigated at its behest and certainly ignored with its collusion.
John Reid should mull over that as he surveys the 'cold house' of the North. It is too hot for the victims of the UDA in both Catholic and Protestant communities. Unionist leaders should chew on it as they show more concern for the survival of the Special Branch, while urging reluctant nationalists to trust and support the new policing service.
In the end, it comes down to trust. Trust is won by fairness, not by iron fists. It's a goal worth reaching for in the memory of Dano and other victims.
Further Information
Publisher: ULSTER HERALD
Ref: UH/0923
Published Date: 17-Jan-02
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