The brutal sectarian murder of Kevin McDaid has so far led to eleven arrests (according to RTE tonight), and with eyewitnesses claiming that up to 40 loyalists arrived in the estate in cars and taxis as part of the clearly orchestrated sectarian attack, there will doubtlessly be many more to follow. Whilst condemnation has followed from most quarters, the reaction of local DUP councillor, Adrian McQuillan, on tonight’s BBC Newsline will certainly raise many eyebrows. Here’s Adrian’s response:
“Tit for tat all the time. What reason can you see for there being tricolours up yesterday afternoon, a Sunday afternoon? None other than for to get a reaction from the loyalist community, and they certainly got a reaction this time, which is very sad.”
That’s quiet a stretch, even for Adrian. It wouldn’t do for Adrian to examine the deeper issues which have led to brutal sectarian killings of catholics in similarly majority unionist towns in recent years, where intolerance towards any expressions of the Irish nationalist identity have been the norm. Better to leave that elephant alone, eh???