LOYALIST PARAMILITARIES CEASEFIRE CALLED INTO QUESTION

LOYALIST paramilitaries have been asked by nationalists to confirm their ceasefire commitment following a gun attack on a community centre in north Belfast.

Sinn Féin and the SDLP have both claimed that the Ulster Defence Association /Ulster Freedom Fighters’ ceasefire is non-existent after two gunmen opened fire on workers in the Ashton Centre in the nationalist New Lodge district.

Sinn Féin Assembly member for North Belfast Gerry Kelly said that he had no doubt that the shooting was an escalation of an orchestrated campaign of violence by the Ulster Defence Association (UDA). SDLP councillor Martin Morgan, who spoke to a local television station, described the shooting as a sinister occurrence. He said: “Given the increased tensions in north Belfast it is clear that at least one of the two main loyalist paramilitaries have set aside their ceasefire. In the face of these attacks, the Ulster Democratic Party and the UDA need to be upfront and declare their hand about the ceasefire.”

However John White chairman of the Ulster Democratic Party, which is politically linked to the loyalist UDA/UFF, said it was wrong to blame the paramilitary group.

Mr White said: "The UDA made a statement last week saying its ceasefire was intact and I do not see any reason why that would not still be the case. It would be silly of them to be involved and a complete contradiction."

Meanwhile Deputy First Minister Séamus Mallon and Trade Minister Sir Reg Empey have expressed their horror and disgust at this morning’s gun attack at a children’s summer school in the Ashton Centre in north Belfast.

They said: “This is an appalling act which truly beggars belief. It is a miracle that no one has been killed or injured. We would appeal to all those with any shred of decency in the community to step forward and help the authorities root out the extreme elements who are behind all of the recent disturbances in the city. (AMcE)