Trouble flares at council
TENSIONS boiled over last night at a council meeting over nationalist plans to purge an Ulster town of Protestant emblems.
Police were called to the scene outside the Limavady council offices amid claims that two Sinn Fein councillors were verbally abused by a loyalist crowd.
The trouble erupted minutes after a nationalist-dominated committee reached a stalemate with unionists over a proposal to remove British symbols.
A PSNI spokesman said officers responded to a report of a disturbance and assault at around 9.45pm.
CLAIMUnionist councillors at the meeting claimed they did not see the alleged attack on Anne Brolly and Marion Donaghy – and one added the Sinn Fein councillors were "making a big deal" of any assault to distract from the issue discussed in the chamber.
A car belonging to one of the Sinn Fein councillors was said to have been scraped and draped with the Union Flag, according to an onlooker.
Leslie Cubitt of the United Unionist Coalition said: "I just heard a bang which someone said was a car being hit, and I've been told the so-called assault was someone spitting, and that's it.
"Although I'd condemn any attack on any councillor, I think they're making a big deal of this to distract from the meeting inside."
The News Letter revealed last week that republican councillors wanted to remove items as trivial as a Charles and Diana mug from council offices as part of a bid to "neutralise" the town.
OPTIONS
Last night, nationalist members of the Neutral Space Committee said they would come back with "more options" later in the week.
A witness said that about 30 people outside the building shouted abuse at the Sinn Fein duo.
"Then when they crowded in round Anne's car and put a flag on the bonnet, she got out and confronted them. I wouldn't have been brave enough myself, but she shouted, 'Who's the big man?', but no one came forward," the witness said.
Alderman George Robinson of the DUP said: "There was no one aggressive inside the chamber – I didn't see what happened outside."
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Monday 13 February 2012
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