A STRABANE Sinn Fein councillor is willing to meet with those behind two shootings of local men in a bid to end the attacks.

Brian Mc Mahon yesterday offered to liaise with the perpetrators behind Tuesday night's shooting of a 21-year-old local man, and that three weeks previously of another man.

Mr McMahon spoke out after this week's attack in which the victim was shot in the arm and both legs in the St Colman's Drive area at about 9.30pm. A similar attack three weeks ago was claimed by the Republican Defence Association, who said the victim Paul Murray was shot for being a drug dealer. These claims have been strenuously denied by Mr Murray.

Speaking yesterday, Mr McMahon said punishment attacks had no place in today's society.

He said: "When I heard this news this morning I was filled with a deep sense of sadness at the realisation that this victim would have been only eight years of age at the time of the first ceasefires.

"To think that 13 years on, and despite the immense progress that has been since made in trying to forge a better way forward for everyone on this island, there is still a small number of people in the community who cling on to the deluded belief that something can be achieved by such actions.

"Such actions not only brutalise the unfortunate victims and their families, the wider community but also the people who carry out these attacks. Everyone loses as a consequence of these attacks and while I accept the reality that many people in the republican/nationalist community still do not, and may never, have confidence in the PSNI - no one receives justice through so-called punishment attacks either.

"I am willing to talk to whoever was involved in last night's shooting, or previous attacks in the area, in an effort to bring all such actions to an end," he said.

Meanwhile, spokesperson for the INLA's political wing, the IRSP, Willie Gallagher said that while the INLA had moved away from punishment attacks, there are those who would understand why attacks are ongoing.

"The INLA has been seeking other ways forward, but people still understand the need for punishment attacks. Sinn Fein would say that the attacks don't act as a deterrent and we would agree but people would say there is still a need for this sort of thing.

"Different organisations have different strategies but I think they should be looking at the source of the problem," he said.