THE SHOOTING of a taxi driver in the Poleglass area of West Belfast last weekend has been linked to a feud between dissident Republican groups. A man was hospitalised and remains critical following the incident which is thought to have occurred around 10:30 GMT on Sunday morning.
Political party, Republican Network for Unity, has since claimed the victim as one of its members. The party has links to dissident paramilitary organisation Óglaigh na hÉireann (OnH) who have been linked with numerous gun attacks in the north of Ireland over recent years.
Sources have speculated about a recent split within the group as the cause for this latest escalation in violence.
A local woman told the BBC that she was “fuming” over the incident, adding that there were “about 100 kids training 30 yards away”.
Speaking on Good Morning Ulster early on Monday, Sinn Féin MLA Danny Baker said that there was “no justification for any groups of paramilitary gangs” to operate in a new and peaceful post-conflict Belfast society, emphasising that they did not have any support from the local community.
“This is a brilliant, vibrant community and they don’t want anything like this happening.
“People have called on these groups, and do not want these groups on our backs. They want them out of our communities, they want them disbanded.
“There’s no place for them,” he finished.
Alliance Party MLA and member of the Northern Ireland Policing Board, Peter McReynolds, affirmed this sentiment when he told the Nolan Show: “What we can do is work with the police, support the police, and keep the police informed to make sure that these people are brought to justice.
“Over the past few years the police have done really good work through the paramilitary task force that was set up.”