Adams is welcomed into loyalist stronghold
By Tom Peterkin
13/01/2007
Gerry Adams, the Sinn Fein, president ventured into the heart of Protestant Belfast yesterday to join loyalist mourners at the funeral of David Ervine, the paramilitary turned peacemaker.
Mr Adams, surrounded by bodyguards, made his first public appearance in the loyalist stronghold of east Belfast as figures from both sides of Ulster’s divide paid their last respects to Mr Ervine, who died on Monday.
The Sinn Fein leader, who survived a loyalist gun attack in 1984, also sat with men linked to loyalist paramilitary groups in a part of the city that would still be a no-go area for republicans were it not for the efforts of Mr Ervine and others like him.
Addressing the congregation, Mr Ervine’s brother, Brian, said: “I am delighted to see so many people here who 10 years ago would have classed as our traditional enemies.”
Mr Ervine, 53, was leader of the Progressive Unionist Party, the political wing of the Ulster Volunteer Force. He played a key role in the 1994 loyalist ceasefire, which was made in response to the one called by the Provisional IRA.
