SDLP calls for ‘clarity’ over involvement of loyalist paramilitaries in disorder
By Jonathan McCambridge, PA
The SDLP has called for public clarity over any involvement of loyalist paramilitaries in rioting in Northern Ireland.
The official opposition party at Stormont has said it will also “demand a clear, co-ordinated response from the Executive” to the violence.
In total, 64 police officers have been injured in disturbances that started on Monday after a peaceful protest over an alleged sexual assault in Ballymena and later spread to other areas.
The SDLP’s Stormont leader Matthew O’Toole said the party will write to PSNI Chief Constable Jon Boutcher and the Independent Reporting Commission to “request public clarity on the involvement of loyalist paramilitaries, either formally or informally, in the violence of the last week”.
Mr O’Toole said they would also be asking the police chief about other surges in racially motivated violence, including last summer’s riots in Belfast.
He said: “The violence we have seen over the past week has shamed this society.
“Words of condemnation are important, and shamefully, certain unionist politicians have found it impossible to even offer condemnation without equivocation or double talk.
“Now the real test of our devolved institutions is whether they can act on the heinous events of the past week.”
He added: “Will we see the Finance Minister work with the Justice Minister to increase PSNI numbers beyond simply the short-term additional funding promised in recent days?
“Will the Justice Minister move to update our outdated hate crime laws, something she said was a priority but has seen no progress since Stormont returned?
“When exactly do the First Ministers plan to engage seriously on the epidemic of race hate we are seeing in Northern Ireland given their responsibilities for good relations and racial equality?”
Mr O’Toole said he would also be “insisting on clear accountability” for Communities Minister Gordon Lyons, who has been criticised for a social media post sent hours ahead of an arson attack on Larne Leisure Centre.
Mr Lyons has resisted calls for his resignation, stating that the use of the leisure centre to temporarily house families which had fled the violence in Ballymena was already in the public domain before his post.
The SDLP has referred the post to the Assembly Standards Commissioner to investigate if a breach of the ministerial code has taken place.
Mr O’Toole said: “The Executive cannot simply let the events of the past week slide by with the kind of inaction and passivity which has become their trademark.
“People’s lives are at stake and the SDLP Opposition will be pressing for meaningful action to protect those people and tackle hate in our society.”
