WATCH: Bid to intimidate ‘orange scum’ out of mixed housing estate fails

That is the picture painted by the Department for Communities, as the News Letter takes a look at a major project aimed at de-segregating part of NI’s housing.

The scheme has been quietly growing behind the scenes, attracting very little attention.

What the News Letter has learned is that over one-tenth of all new social housing has a Catholic/Protestant minumum quota system.

For the full story click here – Catholic / Protestant quota-style system now in force in 28 new housing developments – with 31 more to come

One of the better-known projects in this shared housing scheme is Felden.

Built several years back on the border between Newtownabbey and north Belfast, it is surrounded by the republican Longlands and Bawnmore neighbourhoods.

And as soon as construction began, so did the intimidation.

Graffiti appeared stating there must be “no Prods in Felden”, that “orange scum” would not bewelcome, and bearing the letters KAH (kill all huns).

The entrance to the development is regularly arrayed with tricolours at Easter, and in 2021 an INLA funeral was staged in the middle of the development.

Similarly, 2017 saw attempts by loyalists to intimidate Catholics out of the Global Crescent area in east Belfast, with paramilitary flags erected and threats issued to householders.

Nevertheless, the Department for Communities has now told the News Letter that both developments still meet the criteria of being shared neighbourhoods, with no more than 70% of households coming from one specific community – meaning, in short, that the efforts to claim turf by intimidation have failed in both instances.

Click here – Condemnation of INLA funeral assembly in dedicated mixed housing estate

Click here – RUC ‘collusive’ findings: WATCH as DUP man denounces IRA while speaker Alex Maskey tries to rein him in for ‘going off-topic’

——— ———

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this story on our website. While I have your attention, I also have an important request to make of you.

With the coronavirus lockdowns having had a major impact on many of our advertisers — and consequently the revenue we receive — we are more reliant than ever on you taking out a digital subscription.

Subscribe to newsletter.co.uk and enjoy unlimited access to the best Northern Ireland and UK news and information online and on our app. With a digital subscription, you can read more than 5 articles, see fewer ads, enjoy faster load times, and get access to exclusive newsletters and content.

Visit

https://www.newsletter.co.uk/subscriptionsnow to sign up.

Our journalism costs money and we rely on advertising, print and digital revenues to help to support them. By supporting us, we are able to support you in providing trusted, fact-checked content for this website.

Ben Lowry, Editor