Government money in support of a loyalist conflict transformation initiative will be withdrawn if UDA "thuggery and violence" continues, a Northern Ireland Minister warned last night.
Social Development Minister Margaret Ritchie repeated her threat to stop the financial support offered by her department for the scheme following the tarring and feathering of an alleged drug dealer in south Belfast.
Loyalists in the Taughmonagh estate in the city accused the PSNI of failing to deal with illegal drugs and said this led to the attack on the man which was recorded by a security camera.
The victim, a man in his thirties, was tied to a lamp post in Finwood Park on Sunday night and covered in either tar or black paint and feathers. A placard bearing the words "I'm a drug-dealing scumbag" was hung around his neck.
Ms Ritchie said: "This type of behaviour has no place in a civilised society. If the UDA is involved, it is a stark demonstration of the thuggery and violence which I made clear has to end if the funding to the CTI [ Conflict Transformation Initiative] project is to continue." Her department offered £1.2 million in support of the scheme last march, before the powersharing Executive was formed.
However, on August 10th Ms Ritchie warned she would withdraw the funding within 60 days if the UDA did not begin decommissioning illegal arms. Her warning followed violence in Carrickfergus, Co Antrim, and Bangor, Co Down, in which the UDA was allegedly involved.
Frankie Gallagher of the Ulster Political Research Group denied the UDA was involved and claimed that the Minister's threats were not the way to persuade its members.
"The UDA told the local community to go to the police about this. The community responded in the way it did because it had no confidence in the police." In a series of interviews yesterday Mr Gallagher said it was as important for the police to reach out to the loyalist community as it was for people to work alongside the PSNI.
He added: "Margaret Ritchie's actions are destabilising the loyalist community by doing things in a way that won't work."