Residents say 'outsiders' painted graffiti to intimidate

Some residents of a private housing development have said graffiti and loyalist paramilitary flags that appeared in the area were designed to "inflame tensions and intimidate people".

Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) flags were among those erected in the Hillocks in the Waterside in Londonderry on Tuesday morning.

The residents said they were put up by large groups of men in masks and hoods who came into the development and then left.

Some of the flags have been removed but the police said they were treating graffiti saying "loyalist area, loyalist flags", which appeared on Tuesday, as a sectarian hate crime.

One man, who did not want to be identified, told BBC Radio Foyle's North West Today programme: "I am in a mixed marriage, this is a mixed area and we have lived here happily and without incident for years.

"But the people who put these flags up are, clearly, out to intimidate and incite trouble in an area where people have always got on with their neighbours, regardless of religion.

"And it is clear they do not live in the Hillocks."

Another resident said the flags - especially those of a paramilitary nature - had made him and his neighbours feel "uncomfortable and intimidated".

"A bunch of masked younger men appeared in the Hillocks and were, basically, going lamppost to lamppost, putting up various loyalist flags," he said.

He said it was a "very mixed area with people from all backgrounds".

He said the people he had spoken to did not want the flags up in the area.

The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) said they were aware that flags had been put up.

A spokesperson said each incident would be considered on a "case-by-case basis" and the individual circumstances would determine what action they take.

"Where any offences have been committed, the circumstances will be investigated," Ch Insp Craig said.

"Our officers will engage with local community representatives and partner agencies in relation to any complaints about flags, and work with them to build a safe and inclusive society."

Niree McMorris is a Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) councillor and the deputy mayor and also sits on the policing and community safety partnership.

She said no flags should be put up in an area where they are not wanted and that her party was trying to resolve the issue.

The SDLP MLA Mark H Durkan said he had been "inundated" with calls from residents in the Hillocks area who were "deeply distressed".

"These flags are not cultural symbols but rather designed to intimidate and sow division in this mixed and diverse area," he said.

"The reality is this has been allowed to happen right across the north because the [Stormont] Executive has failed to bring forward legislation to tackle this issue.

"There is no place for fear and intimidation in our shared homeplace."

The Ulster Volunteer Force murdered more than 500 people during the Troubles.

It was formed in 1966 and adopted the names and symbols of the original UVF, the movement founded in 1912 by Sir Edward Carson to fight against Irish home rule.

The UVF shot dead the first police officer to be murdered during the Troubles.

The organisation was later involved in various atrocities including the bombing of McGurk's Bar in Belfast, the sectarian killings of the Shankill Butchers and the Loughinisland massacre.

It sometimes claimed killings using the cover name the Protestant Action Force.

It has also been embroiled in feuds with other paramilitary organisations.

In recent years, it has been linked to serious criminality including drug dealing.

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