Thousands of Ulster people live in real terror
nowadays, and nowhere more so than along the sectarian interfaces
of Belfast, Londonderry, Portadown and other places.
The media constantly spotlights the pressures on Roman Catholics
living in towns where Protestants are in the majority, and
there has been no lack of television coverage of attacks on
families in Larne, Antrim, Ahoghill, and other places. Rightly
so, as no-one should have to live in such circumstances and
it is sinful and wrong to attack people or put them in fear
of their lives for no reason than their religion.
But there is reason to believe that Protestants living under
intimidation do not receive the same coverage on television
or in many sections of the media when they come under attack.
And sometimes when the crime is reported, there is a tendency
for the police to say they are "keeping an open mind"
on the source of the attack.
What cannot be denied is that in the past decade a sustained
attack has taken place each summer on Protestants living in
vulnerable areas of the province - and in some cases throughout
the year.
The Fountain estate in Londonderry is an example, and the
small Protestant enclave at the bottom of Garvaghy Road in
Portadown is another.
In Belfast republicans switch from one target to another
- from Ardoyne to Oldpark, from Madrid Street to Limestone
Road.
The News Letter during the Twelfth period carried an illuminating
story which underlines the growing problem for Protestants
living in parts of the province. The 1,000 Protestants who
live in the Suffolk area of Belfast are surrounded by 40,000
Roman Catholics, and have had to put up with increasing attacks
on their homes.
The Protestants are determined to stay, and they only want
to live in peace with their neighbours, but republican gangs
insist on carrying out missile attacks on houses and on the
inhabitants.
All sectarian attacks, whether on Protestants or Roman Catholics
are wrong. People should have the right to live where they
want without the fear of intimidation or attack. But there
is firm evidence to show that in recent years it is Protestants
more often than not who have been under attack, yet this is
a fact which often goes unreported.
It is time for fair and impartial reporting, but it is also
time for those who take part in such attacks to cease forthwith.
That's the real answer to the problem, and the best way of
maintaining what are left of mixed areas in Northern Ireland.
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