The Workers Party in West Belfast has condemned the intimidation and threats directed against local Councillor Tina Black because of her condemnation of last Saturday’s rioting in the Distillery Street / Grosvenor area.

What we witnessed last Saturday was a destructive orgy of violence imposed on an already hard pressed working class community by a combination of miscellaneous mavericks and groups whose only contribution to society is to drag it backwards.

Not content with a rampage of community vandalism, these same people are now attempting to physically intimidate anyone who opposes them. It is more important than ever that the community in West Belfast sends a clear message to these vandals and gangsters – “get off our backs and get off our streets”

Anyone with any information about Saturday’s rioting or about threats of intimidation should contact the PSNI, confident that the vast majority of the community supports them.