ORM behind shootings: claim
IT’S BEEN claimed that two shootings that took place in the Falls area within weeks of each other were carried out by the same socialist republican group.
The West Belfast Community Safety Forum (WBCSF) said it had reason to believe that the Official Republican Movement (ORM) were behind the shooting of a man in the Fort Street area on Monday night and were also responsible for the shooting four weeks earlier of 45-year-old Paul McGoran as he drank in the Hawthorn Bar.
Just before 8pm on Monday night three men, one described as wearing a Royal Mail jacket and carrying a white box, entered the Fort Street home of a 36-year-old man and shot him three times in the leg. His partner and four-year-old daughter were in the house at the time of the attack. The victim was taken to hospital for treatment on his injuries which are not believed to be life-threatening.
In the February 12 edition of the Andersonstown News, Paul McGoran spoke of how he was shot twice in the leg while sitting the Hawthorn Bar, minutes after he had a verbal altercation with another patron. Mr McGoran refuted allegations that were circulating at the time that he was targeted for pulling a knife during the argument.
Speaking about this latest shooting, Seamus Finucane of the WBCSF said “an investigative process” was needed with input from all sectors within the community to ascertain why these attacks are taking place.
“We believe that the ORM has been linked to several incidents like this over the past number of years,” said Mr Finucane, who is himself under threat from dissident republican group Óglaigh na hÉireann. “There’s been no outcry to these two shootings because the spotlight on this sort of activity usually falls on other groups, and unless you are here working in the area you’re going to assume it’s the responsibility of one of these groups in the spotlight and not the ORM.”
Mr Finucane has called on the ORM to come out and justify the shootings.
“The ORM are supposed to have been on ceasefire since back in 1972, so where are they getting their weapons from?” he said.
“They need to come out and explain why they are targeting vulnerable young people and adults in our community and they need to stop it now.”
When asked if the Fort Street and Hawthorn Bar shootings were carried out by the same group, a spokesperson for the PSNI said they wouldn’t be commenting.
“Investigations are still ongoing into both incidents,” said the spokesperson.
“Anyone with information on these incidents is asked to contact police on 0845 600 8000 or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.”
