Priest says Catholics live in fear after Protestant riots

Published: 2005-09-14

DUBLIN, Ireland (CNS) -- After four nights of extensive rioting by Protestant mobs in Belfast and other parts of Northern Ireland, Catholics are living in fear, said Father Aidan Troy of Holy Cross Parish in Belfast. "When rioting is taking place, members of this parish can't leave the area, because access to the main roads is blocked. We're supposed to be having a novena here this week, but speakers can't get in to us because of the violence," he said in a Sept. 14 telephone interview. Northern Ireland Chief Constable Hugh Orde said the rioting was organized by Protestant paramilitaries -- the Ulster Defense Association and the Ulster Volunteer Force -- with disturbances breaking out in seven different locations in Belfast and five different locations outside the city in an effort to stretch police and army resources to the maximum. Protestant leaders deny the charge. Rioting started Sept. 10 after the Independent Parades Commission ruled that a parade by the Orange Order, a Protestant fraternity, could not pass through a Catholic district.

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