Belfast, Northern Ireland, Sep 6, 2025 /
07:00 am
A spokesman for the Diocese of Down and Connor, Father Eddie McGee, has strongly condemned intimidation and attacks on Catholic families in Belfast, Northern Ireland, that have led all families but one to flee their homes.
The families were living in a housing development bordering a predominantly loyalist district in the north of the city.
“The continued attacks and intimidation experienced by local residents of Annalee and Alloa Street in Belfast are cowardly and threatening faceless acts of sectarian discrimination,” McGee told CNA. “It is abhorrent that families in Northern Ireland today continue to have to leave the security of their homes in a society that is strongly committed to the pathway of peace and reconciliation.”
The sectarian attacks in this area of north Belfast began in May when a number of Catholic family homes were targeted by masked men, with windows broken and vehicles vandalized. It is estimated that, following renewed attacks in the last few days, only one Catholic family remains in what was intended to be a mixed development.
Protestant residents were unwilling to speak to local media for fear of reprisal by loyalist paramilitary groups.
The Sunday World newspaper reported that the attacks were coordinated by individuals linked to drug dealing and loyalist paramilitaries who vowed to continue their harassment and intimidation.
“The Diocese of Down and Connor joins alongside the many other church and public representatives in calling for those who perpetrate these attacks to end this campaign of intimidation and to calmly engage with their local representatives to address the underlying tensions that give rise to such conflict,” McGee said.
“The ongoing intimidation of vulnerable families to leave their homes is a reminder that it is incumbent upon all of us not to become complacent in achieving communities where everyone is respected and protected, without exception. We need to continue to engage across the wider community to pursue pathways of dialogue rather than building walls of sectarian and racial discrimination fueled by fear and aggression.”
At a meeting on Sept. 4, the Police Service of Northern Ireland’s Assistant Chief Constable Davy Beck said while Ulster Defence Association (UDA) elements have been responsible for events that have seen Catholic families targeted in the Oldpark area of the city, he said there was no intelligence to suggest the leadership of the loyalist paramilitary organization had sanctioned them. The UDA is an illegal loyalist paramilitary organization with a long history of sectarian attacks.
Irish News in Belfast reported that one resident who has been living in the area since December 2024 is now taking legal action against the Clanmil Housing Association, which is responsible for the properties, claiming that it has “failed to take reasonable steps to protect” her and her children. The woman alleges she was later threatened and assaulted by a man and called a “Fenian bastard” — a standard term of abuse for Catholics by loyalists. She said the same individual threatened her two children, ages 10 and 5, in a local park.
Jack Murphy of McIvor Farrell Solicitors, the legal representative for the resident targeted in the latest attack, said in a statement: “We have now issued pre-action correspondence against Clanmill Housing Association and are considering further legal action against relevant state bodies who, in our view, have neglected their duty to safeguard our client, her children, and other Catholic families in the area from paramilitary violence.”
McGee expressed the support of the entire Down and Connor Catholic community, saying: “We stand in solidarity with the families who have had to leave their homes. Such actions leave a scar of unresolved hurt and pain not only upon those victims experiencing the masked threats and attacks directly but also upon the wider community in which this intimidation occurs. These families have a right to live in peace in a society that is committed to a pathway of dialogue and reconciliation.”
A spokeswoman for Clanmil Housing Association said: “Everyone should be allowed to live in peace and feel safe in their home, free from intimidation or threat.”
As the situation deteriorated it emerged that victims campaigner Raymond McCord, whose son was killed during the Troubles (known internationally as the Northern Ireland conflict) had emailed the first and deputy first ministers of Northern Ireland in June urging them to visit vulnerable householders in north Belfast, but his appeal remained unanswered.
Patrick J Passmore lives on the north coast of Ireland. He has worked with St Brigid Media on a range of projects as a consultant and writer.
