Assembly hears of southern caution toward Sinn Fein

People in Northern Ireland should be encouraged "that Sinn Fein is not considered fit for government in the Republic in its current state," the Presbyterian General Assembly was told in Belfast yesterday.

Proposing a report by the Church and Government Committee, Mr George McCullagh, Dublin, said he felt there would be changes as a result of "resistance to acceptance of an unreconstructed Sinn Fein". He also wished to acknowledge publicly a recent statement by Mr Gerry Adams "that he personally has a great affinity with Presbyterian people".

He wanted to know whether that affinity extended beyond the United Irishmen to today's Presbyterians, who "unlike some others, operate without central control and [where] those in charge in various areas of responsibility are identified and accountable."

The report said the committee was "not entirely insistent" that the royal coat of arms be displayed in every courtroom in the North, and believed a case could be made for not flying the flag outside courthouses "except on exceptional occasions." Where new courthouses were concerned, "thought should be given to the possibility of having local symbols."

The Rev Gilbert Young, Moville, said it was "quite inappropriate" for the church to express approval of the use of the royal court of arms at all. "Many of us feel it is an expression of our British nationality," he said, "which is inappropriate for a church seeking not solely to be British nationalists."

Mr Arthur Miskelly, Ahorey (Armagh), objecting to "people standing in this rostrum complaining about symbols I hold dear", said the emblem of the RUC was the harp, shamrock and crown, which was "two-thirds Irish".

The Rev Bill Moore, Taughmonagn (Belfast), said his community were "oppressed people" who wanted a police force to deal with local loyalists.

The report estimated there were "75 mafia-style gangs, involving some 400 individuals in Northern Ireland . . . Just over half of these gangs have links . . . to loyalist and republican paramilitary groups."