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02/08/2006
Hundreds attend meeting over UDA dispute
Around 200 people have attended a meeting in north Belfast to discuss the current dispute within the UDA in the area.
Members from the Ulster Political Research Group, who speak on behalf of the UDA also attended the meeting at the Ballysillan Leisure Centre to represent the views of the UDA leadership.
The meeting was organised in response to a recent stand-off between rival factions of the paramilitary group at the weekend.
Yesterday, it was announced that protestant clergymen have agreed to work as mediators between both sides in a bid to bring the ongoing dispute to an end.
Earlier in the week, UDA leaders met with members of the north Belfast battalion who have kept their allegiance to the Shoukri brothers after they were suspended from the paramilitary organisation in June.
Since then, tensions between UDA rival groups in the area have remained high, and at the weekend there was a stand-off between both factions, and the UDA leadership held a public show of strength.
A statement issued on Saturday evening by the 'inner council' said that around 80 dissidents had attacked a number of homes in the north Belfast area and stated that the organisation's leadership wanted a "peaceful end" to the dispute and called on police to deal with the situation.
However, the statement warned that if attacks continued, they would respond.
Meanwhile, Sinn Fein has said that last night's meeting should not have taken place on council property.
Sinn Fein councillor Margaret McClenaghan told the BBC that the gathering amounted to a "UDA rally," and added: "I would just be curious to know, did this go through the City Hall? Who requested this meeting?"
"Or did they just go ahead and hold this UDA rally in one of the facilities belonging to Belfast City Council?
"Ratepayers need an explanation. It is a leisure centre, keep it for the leisure."
(EF)
Members from the Ulster Political Research Group, who speak on behalf of the UDA also attended the meeting at the Ballysillan Leisure Centre to represent the views of the UDA leadership.
The meeting was organised in response to a recent stand-off between rival factions of the paramilitary group at the weekend.
Yesterday, it was announced that protestant clergymen have agreed to work as mediators between both sides in a bid to bring the ongoing dispute to an end.
Earlier in the week, UDA leaders met with members of the north Belfast battalion who have kept their allegiance to the Shoukri brothers after they were suspended from the paramilitary organisation in June.
Since then, tensions between UDA rival groups in the area have remained high, and at the weekend there was a stand-off between both factions, and the UDA leadership held a public show of strength.
A statement issued on Saturday evening by the 'inner council' said that around 80 dissidents had attacked a number of homes in the north Belfast area and stated that the organisation's leadership wanted a "peaceful end" to the dispute and called on police to deal with the situation.
However, the statement warned that if attacks continued, they would respond.
Meanwhile, Sinn Fein has said that last night's meeting should not have taken place on council property.
Sinn Fein councillor Margaret McClenaghan told the BBC that the gathering amounted to a "UDA rally," and added: "I would just be curious to know, did this go through the City Hall? Who requested this meeting?"
"Or did they just go ahead and hold this UDA rally in one of the facilities belonging to Belfast City Council?
"Ratepayers need an explanation. It is a leisure centre, keep it for the leisure."
(EF)
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While the IRA "haven't gone away, you know" - as infamously declared by the Sinn Fein President, Gerry Adams - a Belfast court case this week appears to point towards the loyalist paramilitary group, the UDA doing - or "not doing" the same thing.
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Funeral takes place of former UDA chief
The funeral of former UDA chief Jim Gray has taken place in Belfast on Tuesday. Gray, 47, the former UDA 'brigadier' in east Belfast, was shot dead outside his father's home last week. Tuesday's service took place at his father's home with members of the UDA told to stay away from the house.
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Loyalist paramilitaries cancelled historic talks with Martin McGuiness yesterday, after details of the meeting were leaked to the media. According to reports in the Belfast Telegraph, a four-man delegation from the Ulster Defence Association (UDA) was due to meet the Sinn Féin Deputy First Minister at his Stormont offices.
UDA Halts McGuinness Talks
Loyalist paramilitaries cancelled historic talks with Martin McGuiness yesterday, after details of the meeting were leaked to the media. According to reports in the Belfast Telegraph, a four-man delegation from the Ulster Defence Association (UDA) was due to meet the Sinn Féin Deputy First Minister at his Stormont offices.
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