Ancram to meet victims of North boycotts

As the economic boycotts continue to bite and heighten sectarian tensions, the North's Political Development Minister, Mr Michael Ancram, has agreed to meet Protestant business people who have been hit by the campaigns.

After representations from unionist politicians, who said many businesses were facing bankruptcy because of the campaign that was sparked by the Drumcree crisis, Mr Ancram agreed to discuss the issue with the business owners. A date has yet to be set for the meeting.

Mr Cedric Wilson, of Business and Professional People for the Union, said the British government must use "whatever influence it has with the Roman Catholic churches to lead their flock back to these businesses".

Mr Wilson, who is talks delegate for the UK Unionist Party, also wants the government to consider paying compensation to victims of boycotts.

Meanwhile, leading Northern Ireland hotelier Dr Billy Hastings has warned that the current boycott campaigns are hurting the North's economy.

Dr Hastings, chairman of the Hastings Hotel Group, which owns six hotels in the North including the Europa and the Culloden, urged politicians and community and business leaders to consider the implications of the campaigns.

"Exhuming the legacy of Captain Charles Boycott as an economic or political weapon today simply turns the clock back 100 years. It did nothing to create mutual understanding and economic well-being then, and it will do even less now," he said at a private dinner in the Culloden Hotel.

And with the North still gripped by sectarian tensions, the Northern Ireland Tourist Board yesterday launched its winter campaign.

Ms Sandra Elliott, the hoard's sales director, said that the image of the North created during the summer's marching season had caused damage and had resulted in a downturn in business after a sharp increase in 1995.

On a positive note, she said that inquiries were rising again. She had just returned from Dublin, where interest in holidays in the North was increasing.