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Police call to withdraw £1m UDA grant
THE North's Chief Constable has demanded the withdrawal of £1m (€1.5m) of British government funding from the Ulster Defence Association after a night of violence.
Sir Hugh Orde has blamed the loyalist paramilitary group for orchestrating a night of bloodshed in Bangor, Co Down.
Live ammunition was fired at his officers during the disturbances on the notorious Kilcooley estate as the violence continued until early yesterday.
Cars and police vehicles were damaged, petrol bombs, fireworks, stones and other missiles were hurled at officers and six people were struck by baton rounds.
The violence flared after police teams moved into the loyalist housing area to search homes as part of a crackdown on drug dealing.
At one point a local family claimed police refused them entry to their home to complete preparations for the funeral of a relative.
As leaders of the UDA met senior police officers to discuss the situation - Sir Hugh pointedly stayed away from the talks - community leaders in the area continued their calls for calm.
Sir Hugh said there was evidence that the paramilitary group was behind the trouble and said the UDA should be stripped of the government funding put forward in a bid to encourage the organisation away from its past.
"If you are looking for funding, you've got to deliver something. If that was value for money, then the people of Kilcooley got very poor value for their money. If you want my personal opinion I wouldn't give them 50p," he said.
At the height of the disturbances, up to 200 people were involved in the violence which was condemned by the Ulster Unionist MP for North Down, Lady Sylvia Hermon.
For so-called loyalists to attack the police, she said, was totally unacceptable and could not be justified.
PSNI Chief Superintendent Graham Shields said seven rounds of ammunition were fired at police vehicles in two separate incidents.
"Here we have a reaction from people stuck in the past," Mr Shields said.
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