UDA in 'battle ready' statement

A statement from the UDA has told loyalists to be "ready for battle" and accused republicans of racism, ignorance and bigotry.

The Ulster Political Research Group's Frankie Gallagher said the statement referred to a "new battlefield".

"To do battle in terms of social economy, in terms of bringing jobs into Protestant communities, in terms of unionist unity," he said.

However, nationalist politicians said the statement was very concerning.

SDLP assembly member John Dallat said it was a scandal.

"The latest belligerent bluster from the UDA cannot go unchallenged," he said.

"An armed paramilitary group can state without repercussions that it is getting ready to do battle, that it is training in the skills to defend unionist communities."

Sinn Fein's Jennifer McCann said the statement would undermine cross-community relationships.

"There's a real concern here about what the UDA really mean in their statement.

"We have to recognise that the UDA are still an armed organisation," she said.

Mr Gallagher said while the language of the UDA statement was "pretty harsh, I can tell you if that had been 10 or 15 years ago that would have been a lot harsher".