trimble steps into mosque debate

national | miscellaneous | news report Monday January 20, 2003 11:57 by Labara

The Sunday Times Liam Clarke reports on recent developments over mosque in Portadown

Anti -Irish Trimble is to step into the controversy surrounding the proposed plans for a mosque in Portadown. He fears Sinn Fein are exploiting the issue and that Unionist attitudes could cause them bad publicity. The fact is Unionists are more inclined towards racism than nationalists and cannot envision a N.Ireland that isn't white, protestant and Unionist. N.Ireland has always been an anti-catholic and anti-Irish state.Muslims are now the next victims of their intolerance and bigotry.

SUNDAY TIMES:LIAM CLARKE
THE Ulster Unionist leader is to meet councillors from Craigavon this weekend in an effort to defuse a dispute over the building of Northern Ireland’s first mosque in his constituency. Unionist councillors have opposed the mosque on planning grounds, leading to allegations of racial and religious bigotry. David Trimble believes the row is damaging the unionist cause and is being exploited in propaganda terms by Sinn Fein. The mosque is planned for a site near the town of Portadown, which is the heartland of Orangeism and has become a byword for intolerance and sectarian conflict because of the annual Drumcree standoff. Trimble said yesterday: “I have been disturbed by some of the issues raised, and I don’t mean the planning issues. As a result, I will be speaking to some of my party councillors over the weekend. I don’t want to comment further until I have discussed it with them.” Trimble is particularly perturbed by comments from Fred Crowe, a councillor and key local supporter in his Upper Bann constituency. Crowe has joined other unionist councillors on Craigavon council, which governs Portadown, in opposing planning permission. Crowe’s official reasons for opposing the mosque are the strain it would put on the sewage and road system but he has also criticised the Muslim community, accusing them of introducing an alien culture which involves noisy chanting and wailing that will disturb the locals. The councillor describes himself as a committed Christian who has travelled widely in the Islamic world and studied its belief system. He said: “Their (Muslims’) greatest enemy is Jesus Christ, and I have seen papers coming from them that it is their intention to wipe out Christianity.” He insists these views do not affect his judgment on the planning merits of the mosque. “I am only acting on behalf of the residents who are entitled to live in a normal manner without being interrupted,” he said. “I have fought this whole issue entirely on planning grounds. I can have personal views, but that is not going to affect me.” The Democratic Unionist party, led by Ian Paisley, takes a more cautious approach. Woolsey Smith, one of its councillors, said: “A few people have spoken to me about the issue of another culture coming into a country area. A mosque isn’t a typical type of church, but I do believe in freedom of worship, and I wouldn’t like to create a racist-type issue.” Smith said he had researched Muslim beliefs on the internet and recommended a fundamentalist Protestant site, sermonaudio.com, which turned out to be highly critical of Islam. It contained a prediction by Paisley of a final conflict that would be fought out between “Biblical Christianity” and “Mohammedanism-Judaism-Romanism”. The land for a purpose-built mosque was donated by Mohammed Ashraf, an elderly Pakistani who is one of 200 Muslims in the Craigavon area, after a temporary mosque was burned down by vandals. John O’Dowd, a local Sinn Fein councillor who has emerged as the mosque’s main political champion, admits there are genuine planning concerns. The area is served by what was once a quiet country road that now carries heavy traffic to shopping centres and would be strained further by traffic to the mosque. Most local houses have no connection to the main sewage system, and there are drainage problems from septic tanks which do not have adequate soak away systems. O’Dowd said: “Some of the residents have genuine concerns about road traffic and sewage in the area. My argument is that as local councillors we should be lobbying for better sewage and road systems instead of using it as a reason to block the Muslim community building a place of worship. Frankly some of the comments I’ve heard sound sectarian and racist. Craigavon should be setting an example as a multicultural, diverse community.” The mosque has already been given outline planning permission but is being blocked by unionists at the council. Local Muslims are bemused that it is only now, a year after it was first mooted, that problems are being raised. The fate of the mosque is likely to be decided at the end of next month during a meeting of Craigavon council.