KEY POINTS:
A savage baseball bat attack by a Belfast gang that left four men in hospital with severe injuries to their arms and legs has aroused concerns that, despite a new era of peace and reconciliation, Northern Ireland is struggling to close the door on decades of paramilitary violence and vigilantism.
Police called the incident a paramilitary-style attack, the latest of a series of such beatings demonstrating that organised "punishments" have not disappeared despite a marked fall in killings since the end of the Troubles.
Years of bitter violence have left some communities with ingrained habits. This attack, in the solidly loyalist Woodvale district, close to the Shankill Rd, means suspicions are centred on a Protestant paramilitary organisation responsible for many such assaults.
The Ulster Volunteer Force and the Ulster Defence Association, the two main Protestant illegal groupings, are strong in the district.
There have been several recent incidents on the Loyalist side, one of them on the Shankill Rd not far from the scene of yesterday's attack, which have lifted the lid on the meting out of so-called "rough justice" to those who offend paramilitary groups. Fears are mounting that they may be staging incidents as a reminder that, though diminished, they are still a force to be feared.
This month, two teenagers were forced to parade along the road near their homes in north Belfast carrying placards reading, "I'm a thief and a burglar". One had black eyes, bruises and cuts on his face and head.
Police removed the placards but said they could take no further action because neither youth lodged a complaint.
In this district complaining to police in such circumstances would invite retribution.
Many locals see the attacks as a brutal but effective reaction to "antisocial elements" who may elude police attention. Paramilitary groups can then pose as community defenders while simultaneously asserting their own power.
- INDEPENDENT
