One of the independent witnesses to IRA decommissioning, Fr Alec Reid, said last night that for 60 years, the unionist community had treated Catholics in the same way as the "Nazis treated the Jews", writes Gerry Moriarty.
There were angry exchanges at Fitzroy Presbyterian church in Belfast where Fr Reid and the other witness, former Methodist president the Rev Harold Good, spoke to about 200 people.
The early part of the session was calm but after a considerable amount of negative comment from some unionists in the audiences, Fr Reid said he felt compelled to speak "straight" and say some "hard" things to unionists.
William Frazer of Families Acting for Innocent Relatives had earlier asked what reason was there to believe the clerics, particularly Fr Reid, from Clonard Redemptorist monastery in west Belfast, where "weapons were fired and where priest at funerals had spoken about IRA heroes".
Fr Reid said there would have been no IRA but for the way unionists treated nationalists. "They were treated almost like animals by the unionist community. They were not treated as human beings . . . they were treated like the Nazis treated the Jews."
Mr Frazer shouted back and made a number of comments about IRA killings, referring to "butchering priests". He said Fr Reid had buried IRA men and called them "war heroes", before leaving the conference room.
Later Fr Reid said he did not believe republican dissidents posed a serious threat. Mr Good said there were republican paramilitary "mavericks" but he felt assured they would not pose a major threat.