Alleged Irish Drug Dealer Tarred and Feathered

THE past is supposed to be just that, but in Northern Ireland it refuses to go away.

In a chilling reminder of the darkest days of terrorist "justice", a man has been tarred and feathered by hooded attackers.

In a scene reminiscent of the 1970s, when the Provisional IRA regularly meted out this savage treatment in areas where it held sway, the loyalist Ulster Defence Association is suspected of leaving the victim tied to a lamppost in a street in South Belfast.

The attack took place on Sunday in the strongly loyalist Taughmonagh estate, where the UDA has influence.

Pictures of the attack appear to have been recorded on a mobile telephone camera. They show passersby watching as the punishment is administered.

After tar was poured on the man's head, feathers were emptied over him and a placard was hung around his neck claiming the victim, said to be a local man in his 30s, was a drug dealer.

It read: "I'm a drug dealing scumbag."

The victim has not been identified, nor has he come forward to the authorities.

Police and politicians called the incident "barbaric".

The UDA denied involvement, but Alban Maginness, a nationalist Social Democratic and Labour Party Assembly member, said: "It is quite clear that it was an element of the UDA that was responsible for this.

"These things are not done spontaneously by the community."

Frankie Gallagher, of the Ulster Political Research Group, which represents the UDA politically, said: "The UDA told the local community to go to the police about this.

The community responded in the way it did because it had no confidence in the police."

He said frustration with the authorities' inaction over the alleged drug dealing had been building for weeks. Police had information but failed to intervene, he said.