RUC use of 'repressive resource' condemned

Leaders from within the nationalist community in Northern Ireland have strongly criticised the RUC's use of plastic bullets during last night's violence in Portadown.

The Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams said the RUC were too reliant on them as a method of quelling disturbances and said he had made representations to both the Dublin and British governments about the handling of last night's trouble.

He compared last night's race riot in Oldham - during which no plastic bullets were fired - and attacked the speed with which the RUC was prepared to rely on "this repressive resource".

Mr Adams said: "Plastic bullets are lethal, deadly weapons and they should be withdrawn from use immediately.

"The speed with which the RUC is prepared to use them reinforces the need to replace that paramilitary force with a genuine new beginning to policing."Brid Rodgers, SDLP Assembly member for Upper Bann, which includes Portadown also said she would be raising the subject with the Government.Community leaders were this evening urged to help keep Northern Ireland on course for a peaceful summer.The Northern Ireland Security minister Adam Ingram issued the call as the RUC revealed that 57 officers were hurt in "vicious" clashes with nationalists in Portadown, Co Armagh, following a loyalist parade nearby.

Mr Ingram said: "A mob that attacks with paving stones, petrol and acid bombs is not engaged in anything that can be remotely called legitimate protest."

Elsewhere, police and civilians escaped injury in a failed grenade attack on the RUC station in Strabane, Co Tyrone. The device, propelled by an improvised rocket launcher and containing 1lb of Semtex, did not explode.

But a dozen homes were evacuated for more than five hours overnight as a security clearance operation took place. Security sources blamed the attack on the Real IRA.

Mr Ingram said: "The events in Portadown and Strabane again highlight the difficult and dangerous job that the police are required to do to maintain the rule of law in Northern Ireland.

"Once again the police have borne the brunt of that mob violence and over 50 officers have been injured as a consequence."

He added: "As we move into the summer, community leaders and all those of influence must work together to take Northern Ireland forward."

Additional reporting PA