No peace talks in Ulster; two machine-gunned

Press, Volume CXIII, Issue 33155, 20 February 1973, Page 13

No peace talks in Ulster; two machine-gunned

(N.Z.P.A.-Reuter—Copyright) BELFAST, February 19. The assassination of two Roman Catholics and the rejection by militant Protestants of an offer of peace talks with Roman Catholic politicians today left the sectarian division as wide as ever in Northern Ireland.

The two Roman Catholics, both uniformed postal workers, were shot dead in the Roman Catholic Falls Road. Witnesses said that a car drove up to the bus stop where the men were standing. One man jumped out of the car and opened fire on the pair with a machine-gun.

As the car sped away with both men dying in a pool of blood the men opened fire again, wounding another man. The killings came shortly before the Ulster Loyalist (Council (U.L.C.), a group of militant Protestant organisations, rejected an offer from Roman Catholic politicians to ■sit down round a conference table to discuss the future of this embattled British province.

A week ago. the U.L.C. chairman, Mr William Craig, told a rally in Belfast that Roman Catholics and Protestants had much in common and should join together Ito form an independent State. A few days later the Roman Catholic Social. Democratic and Labour Party (5.D.J..P.) said that the ; speech, a relatively moder- ■ ate one for the usually hardline Craig, showed that there

were grounds for discussion and offered to talk to Mr Craig and his colleagues in the U.L.C.

But militants in the organisation, especially the paramilitary Ulster Defence Association (U.D.A.), rebelled. Last night the U.L.C. issued a statement saying that it had considered the invitation but had decided not to talk until a strong Northern Ireland Parliament was restored. Mr Craig would not comment on the decision of the council but observers saw the veto as a slap in the face to their leader. Mr Craig is known as one of the most re-

silient politicians in the pro-; vince, however, and has survived many political crises. One of the S.D.L.P. leaders who would have taken part in the conference is Mr Paddy Devlin, who represented the Roman Catholic Falls district in the provincial Parliament before it was suspended by the British Government early last year. Mr Devlin was near the scene of today’s shooting and gave chase when the assassins sped away. Late last night, troops and gunmen exchanged fire for more than an hour in the city’s Roman Catholic Ardoyne area.

| The gunmen fired nearly; 70 shots in four separate incidents and troops returned] the fire. An Army spokesman! said that one gunman had been hit. Two reserve policemen pat-! rolling the edge of the Roman ] Catholic New Lodge area] were shot at but neither was! hit. Earlier, there were two] rocket attacks on police sta-( tions in other parts of the] province. The police station at Castle-! derg, County Tyrone, some. 60 miles west of Belfast, was slightly damaged by a rocket which was fired under cover iof rifle shots. No-one was] hurt. ,