IRA arms witness in 'Nazi' row

One of the independent church witnesses to IRA decommissioning has compared the unionist community to Nazis for their treatment of Catholics in Northern Ireland.

Father Alec Reid was involved in angry exchanges with several members of the audience at a public meeting in Belfast.

The Catholic priest said: "The reality is that the nationalist community in Northern Ireland were treated almost like animals by the unionist community. They were not treated like human beings. They were treated like the Nazis treated the Jews."

Willie Frazer, of the group Families Acting For Innocent Relatives, claimed Protestants were butchered by Catholics during the Troubles, before storming out of the meeting.

Tempers flared after an audience member began talking about restrictions on Orange marches as he asked a question. A number of people interjected as Fr Reid attempted to answer the point.

The Redemptorist order priest, who is based at Clonard Monastery, raised his voice to tackle his detractors and said: "You don't want the truth." He was then heckled by some of the 200-strong crowd.