What the papers say

Journalist Mike Philpott takes a look at what is making the headlines in Thursday's morning's papers.

A picture of a man with blood streaming down his face appears on several news pages, as the papers report on sectarian violence in north Belfast.

The Irish News says he was hit with a brick thrown from a car.

The paper uses the same story to name a man as the new leader of the UDA in the area, and says the organisation is orchestrating attacks against Catholic families.

In a leader, it says Deerpark Road is bearing witness to scenes of "extraordinary and terrifying bigotry and hatred".

The aim, it believes, is to drive Catholics out of the area.

It points out that Protestants who come to the aid of their neighbours are also subject to intimidation, and it calls on anyone with influence in the loyalist community to use it to bring this "insidious campaign" to an end.

The Mirror, which uses its lead story to report that a former terrorist suspect has been allowed to join the police service, describes events in north Belfast as "ethnic cleansing".

It says the forces of law and order must stamp it out.

Political controversy

The News Letter leads with a warning by the UVF that the feuding within the Ulster Unionist Party is letting republicans "off the hook", and that a collapse of the peace process would plunge Northern Ireland back into outright terror.

In its Morning View column, it comments that if that were to happen, the police would bear the burden.

Unlike politicians who have lost salaries, it says, the police burden would be borne in loss of lives.

The paper also highlights the words of the Police Federation Chairman, Irwin Montgomery, who said that "the more unproductive the political debate, the more politicians seem to use the police as a political football".

There is even greater political controversy in Dublin, where the papers report that a judge who resigned from the Child Abuse Commission has accused the government of hindering her work.

Press office changes

The Irish Independent describes the resignation letter as "explosive" and says the judge in question, Mary Laffoy, could cause huge damage to ministerial reputations.

The Irish Times comments that the entire investigation into cases of child abuse was flawed from the start, since it operated under the control of the Department of Education - the very department that presided over the institutions under examination.

It says the only way out for the government is to go back to the drawing board.

The Daily Telegraph gives front page coverage to a warning by the Foreign Secretary, Jack Straw, that Britain and the US are facing failure in Iraq unless they send more troops to speed up moves towards self-government.

The paper says the warning is contained in confidential papers which it has managed to obtain.

Several papers examine the changes at the Downing Street press office.

The Guardian describes them as a mini-revolution, and says the government's efforts deserve support.

But the Times says there was more than a hint of spin to the announcement that the age of spin was dead and buried.

The Mirror says Tony Blair has merely moved his media machine from spin cycle to white wash.