A 15 year old catholic boy is tonight on a life-support machine after receiving a vicious sectarian beating at the hands of a loyalist mob in Ballymena. The incident follows the stabbing of another catholic youth by loyalists in the town last month (Today FM is reporting the incident in more details.)
Update
Tragically, young Michael McIlveen has lost his fight for life tonight.
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Daulta
There is fear and there is pure hate. One fuels the other. But there is also the politics of fear and the politics of hate. There is the incitement to violence and tacit encouragement and formulating excuses.
Yes we need to address the divides in our community, but that will take decades. Even when we do there will be sickos who fall on you on a Friday night because your hair is fair or they don’t like your shirt. Let’s face it not everyone in Ballymena roams the streets at dead of night waiting to waylay strangers like a scene out of the League of Gentlemen.
Here and now we must deal with these people and whilst we address the overarching problems of society none of us should give them any consolation whatsoever. Justice must be done and their lives should be as arid as the dessert. They should have no hope, no comfort, no solace.
stephen: “does anyone really care what political, or religious persuasion these scum were who done this? ”
Isn’t in funny when its a case of Nationalists behaving poorly, say, a sectarian parade, we get an endless stream of stem-winders about McGuinness and Adams and terrorism out of some folks, yet Unionists get are the culprits, we get this “can’t we all agree this is wrong??” pap…
A pity we can’t all agree that all of this is wrong.
qubol, understand what you mean, but would question whether your assertions expose any linkage.
The DUP ‘ hatred of sf, is clear, and maybe people on the ground, (which is a code for the spiv leadership, uda uvf etc) should rally be doing more.
Ultimately, where are the police?
Is ballymena becoming the new crime centre of ni?
‘DREAD’,
A pity we can’t all agree that all of this is wrong
I CAN AGREE ON THAT, WITH NO HESITATION.
Crataegus,
I don’t believe that the fear and the hatred, and the politics thereof, are independent of each other. I say again that I believe that the hatred is rooted in fear.
On the other political points you make I reckon we’re in agreement. I don’t, however, agree with vengeance.
stephen: “I CAN AGREE ON THAT, WITH NO HESITATION. ”
Suuuuure you do… except when the culprit is a UDR man or the like… then it “why y’all maligning these poor innocents?”
You have expressed denial on the roots of this whole bloody conflict, and, yet, when Unionist thuggery raises is bloody head, I’m supposed your cries of “can’t we all just get along?” You make comments making clear your desire for more Republican dead and, suddenly, when Unionists are caught behaivng badly, I’m supposed to give your “hey, this is WRONG” spiel *ANY* credence?
qubol
By the logic of your argument, where there is powersharing, there should be no street violence? Is it the atmosphere of tolerance and respect for culture the reason why people literally eat each others faces off up in Derry hi?
maybe there all a wee bit mad in derry jo or maybe it takes more than just power sharing at a local level – like real and open engagement from unionists with sinn fein.
..well ya notice I didnt eat yur face off, anyway, wee lad
dread,
I do not condone any violence, and it wouldnt displease me if all the terrorist murderers starved themselves to death.
Those two positions are perfectly normal.
I regret any loss of life, as we all have loved ones, families etc.
Do not try and pigeon hole me, just cos I was on the wind about sands et al over the weekend.
What denial about the roots of the conflict?
> aye I did, you must be in good form the day.
kudos to former Mayor of B’mena, Jas Currie for coming out and calling this sectarian.
Is this a first for a Unionist politician to pre-empt the PSNI?
qubol
I wouldnt go that far! Howver, I have it in for today. I suspect however that if it was a “political sort of rape”, that certain ppl here would support it…
Daulta
It is not vengeance I advocate, but dealing with such crime firmly. I think we need to be very careful not to say anything that could be taken up as condoning any such crime. Yes we need to get on with issues around a divided community, but it is very important that we all unequivocally condemn all crime.
What one does to solve the problem must be totally separated from those that commit crime. The message must be clear and unequivocal no crime will be tolerated.
Utter scumbags that did this!!
Hope the wee chap pulls through, although its going to take some years until he gets over this – what a shame!
I grew up in Ballymena and was subject to a couple of beatings and a pipe bomb attack, as a result of being in the wrong (loyalist) areas, and being a reasonably well known catholic in the town. Most of my mates down there were orangemen, some of the best people I’ve ever met in my life, but there was always an element of risk involved in going to certain places. For that reason I’ll never be back in the twisted, sectarian little shit-hole that it is. I believe that the motivation for this kind of behaviour is the fact that it is such a renowned loyalist stronghold, and the recent news that catholics live and work in Ballymena is freaking some people out. To some it is a loyalist only town, in which catholics do not exist…
http://www.ballymenatoday.co.uk/ViewArticle2.aspx?SectionID=2698&ArticleID=1465368
English. Are you saying that Paisley is “the leader” of the thugs who stabbed this boy? If so, how has he become their leader? Perhaps you could clarify your statement one way or another.
I hope that those who stabbed the poor lad get caught and put away by the law for a long time.
Was there an Orange parade in Ballymena on Saturday night?
srr,
no, Saturday afternoon…
hey david. where on bebo? – i just signed up and went thru so much shit – please don’t say it was all for nothin.
checking out todays (monday 8 May) Belfast Tele website leads with a story on ciggie smuggling AND there apparently is nothing on the ballymena attack.
have i missed something? or enuf said about the slant of the telegraph?
hope the guy pulls thru.
denials of sectarian nature of this attack have to rank up there with the swill of denial and innuendo following the death of the Quinn children.
Wild Turkey
Of course the attack is in all probability sectarian.
However I think we need to be very careful in categorising such crime. Without any doubt it is a crime of acute violence and possibly attempted murder. A young person was viciously attacked by a group criminals.
Once you start categorising and call an act sectarian rather than simply an intolerable act of violence you in many way validate the crime in the minds of very twisted people. For sectarian means we got one of them in some sick minds and the sick weirdos add one to their score sheet just as their counterparts in the other community contemplate returning the affront.
I wish we would all unite and simply condemn such actions as crimes of violence for once we go down the other road we highlight our differences and send very muddled messages.
It is not that I am naive or choose to ignore sectarianism quite the opposite, I would like us all to unite and instead of regarding people as part of this or that group regard all as people with rights equal under the law. We should give those that carry out such acts no home and no sense of belonging whatsoever. Their actions place themselves outside all of civilised society.
North Antrim MP Ian Paisley said:
“This was an horrific attack on this young man and all right-thinking and law-abiding people in Ballymena totally condemn it,”
“Those who have been responsible for this must have the full rigour of the law applied to them.”
He appealed for anyone with information on the attack to contact police.
BBC
Crat,
..and we’ll do away with all racial crime by simply refusing to admit that it exists? When the British police forces used this argument they were condemned as institutionally racist!
The NI entity bases its existence on the right to civil and religious liberty but many of us have always said that such a claim was misleading and wrong. Have you thought much about this or is it just that you want to avoid the subject?
I am appalled by some of the posts on this thread.
Out thoughts should be with this young fellas family and not trying to score points.
Shame on you and you know who you are.
If people in positions of authority turn a blind eye to sectarianism (or racism) such as the DUP in north Antrim did last summer it sends out a message that such behaviour is acceptable and has the effect of encouraging sectarianism.
Paisley appears to have belatedly learned that his silence on such matters is unacceptable and therefore his comments are to be welcomed.
Dr W
‘Out thoughts should be with this young fellas family and not trying to score points.’
Agree. In fact I think the point-scoring (and there is a group of posters for whom this seems to be their motivation) is incredibly boring as well as in this case insensitive.
ncm
Not doubting your word on the Orange parade, looking more for a clarification. The linked provided by “Mark” at the beginning of the comments:
http://www.paradescommission.org/parades/Parade.cfm?id=13845
mentioned that it was the Ballymena Lord Mayor’s Parade on Saturday. Did that incorporate Orange bands or are you talking about a totally different parade altogether?
David and qubol
The police know about the website and someone is looking into it.
wild turkey
“denials of sectarian nature of this attack have to rank up there with the swill of denial and innuendo following the death of the Quinn children. ”
I can’t say that I’ve noticed any denials
I think there’s an issue with society at large when we have scumbags attempting to murder children. Kids should be safe to go to the local pizza place. We need to stop blaming the other side. It creates an excuse for reprisal.
There’s never an excuse for these attacks. The court should make an example of scumbags to show what a decent society isn’t going to tolerate.
stephen on May 08, 2006 @ 12:29 PM wrote…”Is ballymena becoming the new crime centre of ni? “
How do you define new…“…It is also severely afflicted with heroin addiction; half of the registered heroin addicts in Northern Ireland are in the town, with approximately one person out of 60 in the town a heroin user…” from the Wikipedia site http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ballymena
Haven’t noticed any denials either, except one bloke quoting the UTV report saying the police wouldn’t comment on motive. However on BBC news at lunch time I definitely heard a high-ranking officer in the town describe it as sectarian and I think he said “disgusting”.
The BBC news seems to have taken an approach recently (at least some of the time) of not specifying the religion of the victims/attackers invovled in sectarian attacks. I’m not sure if this is a good idea, bad idea or makes no difference – I just think it’s interesting to speculate on the effect of this.
I hope the kid involved recovers, although from what’s been said here that doesn’t seem certain by any means. It’s a real pity that kids just can’t enjoy their childhood and not have to bother about all the sectarian bullshit and rivalry in this country.
I sincerely hope the bastards that did this end up in gaol for a very long time.
Not sure I have much to add to the debate at this stage. My thoughts are with this lad and his family. Lets hope that there are no fools out there wanting to take some sort of perverted revenge. I don’t know much about the area but fear that the cockpit of sectarianism that Balymena seems to be is creating the context in which attacke such as this happen. I was very impressed today with the reaction of Councillor Currie on Radio Ulster? Paisley on the other hand engaged in whataboutery on the news this evening by linking the attack to the disintegration of an agreement on flags. Who would want to be a young catholic in Ballymena? For sure the friends and family of some of those involved in this disgutsing assault know of their involvement. I have some sympathy with Crategeus post on this issue. The perpretrators of this crime must be caught and punished. It is a stain on the whole community regardless of the background of the person attacked. We all and politicians in Ballymena and other areas where attacks like this are happening especially need to examine what we are doing to either create or destroy the context in which people think it is acceptable to engage in attacks of this kind.
I was the victim of a sectarian assault in Belfast some years ago and whilst I ended up in Hospital the only “damage” was the fear and the anxiety that it left in me which did disspiate in due course. Many have suffered much worse and the pain and anxiety of this young man’s family and friends must be unbearable. I hope but am not too confident that the thugs will be caught.
The young fella has died. It appears that he was set upon by a mob using a baseball bat and the Police are treating the attack as sectarian. What a dump.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/4752571.stm
Well, it has been reported that the young fella has died in hospital, all for being a Catholic! Where is the ounce of respect for human life, let alone a Catholic?
English. Are you saying that Paisley is “the leader” of the thugs who stabbed this boy? If so, how has he become their leader? Perhaps you could clarify your statement one way or another.
I hope that those who stabbed the poor lad get caught and put away by the law for a long time.
Posted by CLARIFY on May 08, 2006 @ 03:24 PM
Paisley is the leader of extreme Unionism at present, so the culrpits could well have voted for him. The culprits could well be DUP supporters. I don’t really know, whether he is their leader therefore. He is the local MP though!
At least Paisley condemned the attack, which is normal behaviour for a local MP in such circumstances. It’s a pity he didn’t do this last year, but better late than never.
The Police have confirmed that the attack is of a sectarian nature, which I suppose surprises nobody given that it happened in Ballymena.
“The young fella has died”
That is very sad news and a personal tragedy for the McIlveen family. What a terrible day for that family, and what a bad day in the history of Ballymena. I hope the people who did it are severely punished. I pray for the family. This news is very sad news indeed.
Murdered after a typical teenage night out– cinema and a pizza. How sickening. How will his family get over this? There is an opportunity and need for people and policitians in Ballymena to work to ensure that all information in relation to this crime gets to the PSNI. What about some political leadership to ensure that all such sectarian attacks stop? Unfortunately I post more in hope than expectation.
What a waste of a life, and for what? Nothing! This poor family will carry their sorrow forever. What sort of country is this, where children cannot walk the streets without being attacked by thugs because of their religion. I just hope that republicans do not retaliate!
Another sectarian “lynching” in the so called bible belt. lets get real the very nature of n.i is sectarian, those loyalists who carried out the attack, were marking out their territory for the marching season..Ballymena “Taig Free Zone”.. before the Orange marching fest, these attitudes are unreformable.
The supramacist mentality of these thugs Paisley’s bully / billy boys are the product of the the acceptable level of bigotory which was inbuilt into the division of this island.
Sadly, this lad’s death was inevitable, until this sectarian state is dismantled there will be many more deaths and many more cover ups by the RUC/PSNI.
My sympathies to his family
I didn’t know this young lad or any of his family or friends but I feel diminished by this news.
I can only hope now that the thugs are caught and locked up. It will not bring back this young life though.
Hope for any future has died a little tonight.
Anyone who doesnt just say, fuck it this is not acceptable should hang their heads in shame.
Really sad news. Can’t imagine what the family is going through.
How can the killers live with themselves?
Firstly my heart goes out to the young lads family and friends.
Secondly, with regards to the bebo website. The bebo has since been edited, it had previously contained gloats and jokes by the author with regards to the attack that were then swiftly deleted – it now resides as a place for people to vent their anger.
http://www.bebo.com/Profile.jsp?MemberId=492873783
Furthermore, Philip McGuigan was right – this was on the cards for a long time and Unionism did sweet FA to counter these sectarian pogroms.
[Removed]
What a very very shameful day. Something is rotten in the state of Ballymena.
How must the family be feeling tonight.
It’s hard to imagine the heartbreak within the McIlveen household this evening.
I pray they have the strength to get through this terrible time.
Another
http://www.bebo.com/Profile.jsp?MemberId=267720372
David you can’t do that – I don’t think you should be lebelling these guys as the attackers. Nothing is proven and in no way to I support any of thugs behind this tragedy but we don’t want to see anything prejudiced and need to be careful with our language.
Jesus, you’d need a dictionary of slang to read those things. Are these children illiterate, or is this the way its done?