Peter Osborne says sectarian threats are a 'failure' of politics

The chair of the Community Relations Council has described the intimidation of Catholic families as a "failure" of politics, public agencies and policy.

Peter Osborne's comments came nine days after four Catholic families fled their homes in Belfast's Cantrell Close due to loyalist paramilitary threats.

Mr Osborne told BBC NI's Sunday Politics programme more must be done to enforce the law and protect families.

Police have said members of the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) made the threats.

Speaking on Thursday, PSNI Chief Constable George Hamilton said: "There are people using the guise of the UVF - who we believe are members of that organisation - who are threatening people because of their community background, because of their religion, to leave their home."

Cantrell Close was built as a cross-community housing estate, as part of a government strategy to discourage sectarianism and improve community relations.

Mr Osborne said: "It is absolutely appalling that in this day and age, 20 years after the agreement, 20 years and more after the ceasefires, that families have been intimidated out of living in any area, but especially in a shared housing area.

"I think you have to say this has been a failure of policy, of politics and practice by public agencies to look after the interests of people living in this area," he said.

"It's a failure of policy because this sort of shared housing area is still the exception, not the rule.

"It's a failure of politics, because the response hasn't been adequate over the last number of months."

Last week, party leaders in Northern Ireland issued a joint statement condemning the threats.

But tensions were first raised back in June, when a number of UVF flags were erected in the area.

On Thursday, a group that claims to mediate on behalf of loyalists linked to the UVF in east Belfast said an agreement has been reached to remove loyalist flags from Cantrell Close.

However, Mr Osborne said that there are "clear laws around Article 8" which "should have led to those flags being removed in June, not now".

Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights states that everyone has a right to private and family life.

The Community Relations Council's chair added that a societal change was also needed.

"We need to lower our threshold in this society of tolerance of people undertaking illegal or unlawful activity," he said.

"We are far too tolerant of it whether it comes to murals or bonfires, where some people had to move out of their houses two years ago.

"I think that's up to the public agencies and the elected representatives getting behind the public agencies in enforcing the law."