THE BITTER sectarianism following the Drumcree standoff is being blamed for the death of a Portadown boy, Darren Murray (12). The boy died after he was accidentally struck by a vehicle during an altercation with loyalist youths.
Darren, from Garvaghy Park in the nationalist part of Portadown, was struck by a van after he ran across Corcrain Road without looking on Tuesday. He was reacting to Protestant youths who were taunting him, according to his sister, Maria (14).
The boy died from his injuries in the Royal Victoria Hospital, Belfast on Thursday afternoon. His mother, Ms Marie-Therese Matchett, said she was convinced the sectarian tensions resulting from the Drumcree standoff had caused his death.
"I blame the siege of Drumcree, and if you come to me in six months time I'll still be the same," she told the Irish News. "It has made the Catholic children bitter and the Protestant children bitter. I feel very, very, very bitter about it. It has cost a young life."
According to Darren's sister, the Protestant youngsters cheered when he was struck by the van. His family said Darren, who was dark featured, was often the subject of abuse.
Since the Drumcree standoff, Corcrain Road, which is an interface area, has been a confrontation ground for Catholic and Protestant youths. Ms Matchett, a mother of 10, had warned her son to keep away from the area but he told her he was "just going to watch".
The local SDLP councillor, Mrs Brid Rodgers, said youngsters in the area had been involved in sectarian bullying and Darren had been a target.
She added that the events at Drumcree and those responsible for them had brought "sectarian hatreds to the surface".
