Labour MP attempting to end feud

Joe Benton has been briefed on the families' feud

A Labour MP has become involved in a bitter Belfast feud in the hope of bringing peace to two warring families.

Joe Benton, the MP for Bootle in Liverpool, has been briefed on the issue, which has led to hundreds of attacks, including a man's death.

Trouble in the Ballymurphy area has been ongoing since the fatal stabbing of Gerard Devlin in February 2006.

Mr Devlin, 39, was stabbed to death at Whitecliff Parade. Four people have been charged with his murder.

The group, British Irish Rights Watch, has briefed Mr Benton on the feud.

Its director Jane Winter said: "BIRW has been monitoring the PSNI's response to the ongoing violence in the area for over a year.

"While the area remained quiet over the election period, there are concerns that the root causes of the violence have not yet been adequately resolved."

'Threats to kill'

The latest incident in the feud involved the use of a JCB digger to destroy the house of Edith Notarantonio in Whitecliff Parade.

A few days later, a member of the Devlin family said she was attacked while shopping at a south Belfast retail park.

More than £1m has been spent dealing with what the police have described as an "intense level of violence".

But the PSNI said there had been underlying issues which the police have not been able to get to the bottom of.

Last October, the police said there had been 600 separate incidents since the dispute between the two families began in the estate.

They have ranged from petrol bombings to threats to kill.