“There can be no ‘ifs’ and no ‘buts’, Mr Lavery said “This violence is completely unacceptable. It has caused serious injury, destruction in local communities and will incur a massive clean-up and policing bill which will have to be met by already hard pressed tax payers. It will also further drain money from under pressure public services”. 

“We must all be absolutely unequivocal in our condemnation, something Nelson McCausland  and others need to understand and practice”, Mr Lavery said 

“The Workers’ Party has repeatedly argued that the sectarian basis of the Stormont Assembly can never be the platform for building a non-sectarian society in Northern Ireland.

 “Both Sinn Fein and the DUP benefit by fostering and maintaining community division. This is their joint electoral strategy 

“The only way we can make progress in Northern Ireland is to recognise and confront the malignant nature of sectarianism in our society. One way of doing that is to adopt and implement an aggressive anti-sectarian strategy. Another way is to stop voting for political parties which maintain division and exploit difference”, concluded Mr Lavery.

Issued: Wednesday 5th Sept 2012