A CATHOLIC man is recovering in hospital after a savage beating by loyalists in east Belfast. Mr Peter Kavanagh (18) was assaulted by up to eight men as he walked home in the Short Strand area.
He suffered serious head injuries in the attack, which happened at about 2 a.m. last Saturday. His assailants used sticks, spikes and handicraft knives.
He was initially critically ill in the City Hospital, where he was on a life support machine. However, he has been moved to the Royal Victoria where he is described as "stable and comfortable".
His mother said that his condition had improved considerably yesterday. He opened an eye and nodded and he has started to move about in the bed," she said. He is still unconscious but is off the life support machine.
Mr Kavanagh was walking home with a friend from the Duke of York pub in the city centre. He noticed three nationalist youths and three loyalist youths fighting at the corner of Bryson Street and the Newtownards Road.
He ran over to the group. "He didn't go looking for trouble, but a fight had started and he went to help his own side," said his mother. "He had taken a lot to drink."
Suddenly, two carloads of adult loyalists armed with knives arrived, she said. The other nationalist teenagers managed to run off, but Mr Kavanagh was trapped.
His mother hopes that the politicians at the multi party negotiations can reach some agreement to help prevent similar attacks. "The sooner we learn to live together the better," she said.