BY CONOR SHARKEY
THE INLA this week distanced themselves from a paramilitary-style attack on a Strabane man.
A 30-year-old man was taken from a house in the Springhill Park area of Strabane last Thursday at around 10pm and shot in both legs and one shoulder. The attack was carried out by six men wearing balaclavas, two of whom fled in a white van while the others left on foot.
The victim has since been discharged from Altnagelvin Hospital.
It is still unclear who was behind the vicious attack, however Willie Gallagher, spokesperson for the INLA's political wing the IRSP, told the Strabane chronicle they were in no way involved in the shooting.
"The INLA haven't been involved in punishment attacks for years, and they certainly weren't involved in this," he said.
KNOWLEDGE
Mr Gallagher said that the family of the victim knew who carried out the attack, however they had no idea why.
"The INLA has carried out their own investigation into why this man was targetted and they have found absolutely no justification for it.
"Whoever did this should inform the community why the punishment attack was carried out. It was always the practice of the INLA in the past to inform people why someone received a punishment and I think whoever did this should do the same," he said.
Meanwhile the attack has been strongly condemned by parish priest of the Church of the Immaculate Conception, Fr Declan Boland, who said he was deeply disappointed that there were people in Strabane who still chose to take the law into their own hands.
"I'm appalled that these people chose to act as judge, jury and executioner and put this young man's life in danger," said the priest.
"And that this should happen to one of my parishioners, and I believe in front of his partner and child, just accencuates how awful it was.
"I honestly thought we had put all this type of activity behind us," Fr Boland said.
The parish priest added that Thursday night's attack again emphasised the need for a police force trusted by all sections of the community.
NEED
"It highlights the need for a police force that is accessible to everyone and one that is trusted by everyone. I hope that this won't happen again because no deserves this kind of treatment and a civilised society should not be forced to deal with it. Whatever the motive for this attack was, it is not the right way for things to happen and no one has the right to dish out this kind of summary justice," he added.
The shooting was also criticised by Sinn Féin member of Strabane District Council Jarlath McNulty who said the incident was totally unjustifiable.
"Working-class communities right across the six counties have long recognised that such actions offer no long term solution to problems within the community and are in fact totally counter-productive," he said.
"While the number of such attacks has steadily declined to the point whereby they are virtually non-existent in most areas, it is obvious that there is still a small number of people in this area who still refuse to accept the reality that this community demands a peaceful and positive way forward for this and future generations," Mr McNulty added.
