Fr Reid, accompanied by the Rev Harold Good, made his controversial remarks before a 200-strong audience at Fitzroy Presbyterian Hall in south Belfast which had gathered to discuss IRA decommissioning. The Redemptorist priest, who helped broker the 1994 IRA ceasefire, had listened to some negative comments about the Catholic Church and "butchering priests".
At one stage, William Frazer, a campaigner for victims of IRA violence, asked why Protestants should believe Fr Reid from Clonard monastery in west Belfast where "weapons were fired and where priests at funerals had spoken about IRA heroes".
Fr Reid said the IRA was chiefly occupied with opposing the "invader, the foreigner, the British".
"It would be completely against their whole philosophy to be attacking anybody in the unionist and Protestant community. They don't exist for that."
Mr Frazer said: "You're going to have to be tackled on that." He later added: "You two gentlemen seem to be putting the IRA on a pedestal, that these are great guys because they gave up their weapons. Let's not forget that they killed 1,800 men, women and children."
Another member of the audience said: "When we see the Orangemen walk the Garvaghy Road and the Ormeau Road - then we'll think about moving on. Fr Reid actually mentioned earlier, we have to forget the Provisional IRA. Well that's not the case."
Fr Reid said: "I don't want to be hurtful here, but I'm going to be straight. The nationalist community was persecuted for up to 60 years by the unionist community, for which the unionist community should be thoroughly ashamed.
Mr Frazer replied: "Excuse me sir, can you come back to the subject . . . can I get you to answer this question?"
Fr Reid said: "No, you see you're trying to stop me telling the truth. You see, I'm answering his question." (Heckling from the audience) "No, he's brought these topics up and I'm going to answer them. I'm going back to 1968." (More heckling) "No, you see you don't want to hear the truth. Look, if you don't listen to me, I'm not going to answer any more questions, I'm going away. You either listen, or I'm going away." (Applause)
The Rev Ken Newell pleaded for calm, saying: "We've had a very serious question, and we're going to have a serious response."
It was then that Fr Reid said: "The reality is that the nationalist community of Northern Ireland were treated almost like animals by the unionist community."
Mr Frazer shouted: "What about the massacres? What about what you did in south Armagh? You butchered Protestants for years in this country."
Fr Reid continued: "They were treated like the Nazis treated the Jews. When the . . . you see you won't listen to the truth. You come from a community that should be absolutely ashamed of itself for the way it conducted politics in Northern Ireland for 60 years. You are in the same category as the Nazis as far as I'm concerned." At this point, Mr Frazer left the meeting, ignoring calls for him to return.
Back in the meeting Fr Reid said many nationalists believed that a significant number of unionists "don't want to give equality to nationalists and especially to republicans . . . That is not on. There is no way nationalists are going back to that, even if it means civil war. And we should never forget we have the potential for civil war in Northern Ireland". Many nationalists believed "that significant elements in the unionist community still want to keep the old system and still want to keep [ nationalists] in a way that they can control them and oppress them. That is not on".
Nationalists "will say that a significant element of the unionist community still want to keep the nationalist community in subjection. And all this talk about the IRA, the weapons of the IRA, getting rid of the weapons of the IRA, is all a cloak for the reality which is they do not want to give equality to nationalists and especially to republicans."
Nationalists argued that the way unionists treated nationalists for 70 years "created the IRA". "The nationalists will blame the unionists for the very existence of the IRA, because when the nationalists tried to get civil rights they were batoned off the streets and shot off the streets.
"In so far as we were saddled with the IRA, the primary people responsible for the IRA were the unionist community.People got the impression that they were fighting for a united Ireland, but they fought for a united Ireland because they believed only in a united Ireland would nationalists get justice, that they never would get justice under a British system." He later also said that had the political roles been reversed, nationalists probably would have acted the same way towards unionists.
"I believe the greatest asset the people of Ireland have is the unionist community because they are a very able people."
