Empey condemns Belfast attack on Australian tourists

The Northern Ireland Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Investment has condemned an attack on three Australian tourists by a gang of up to 20 youths armed with iron bars in Belfast this morning.

Sir Reg Empey said he was disgusted by the attack which came as the North tried to repair the damage caused to its image by the foot-and-mouth crisis.

"For three people to come from the other side of the world and beaten up by a gang of thugs is disgraceful," he said.

"It has the potential to do an enormous amount of damage; a story like that will wipe out much of the good news stories we are trying to sell about Northern Ireland."

The Australian tourists were on a tour of Ireland. One of the young men received serious injuries to his ear in the attack on Albertbridge Road in the east of the city.

An RUC spokesman said the gang came from the nearby Short Strand area at around 1 a.m. and attacked the three. One of them was dragged to a nearby alleyway where he was repeatedly beaten. His two friends managed to rescue him and they escaped.

An RUC spokesman said it was "a terrible and totally unprovoked attack on three innocent young men". He appealed for witnesses to the attack, particularly another man who suffered a similar attack hours earlier.

Belfast Lord Mayor Mr Sammy Wilson also condemned the attack and predicted it could scupper efforts to attract visitors to the city.

"For this to happen is devastating, it's the kind of thing that quickly goes around the whole tourist industry," he said.

"We are trying to promote an image of Belfast as a friendly place, but this just belies what people tell you about it."

Mr Wilson, a member of the Democratic Unionist Party, also claimed the attack by youths from the nationalist Short Strand enclave was part of a campaign orchestrated by Sinn Féin for electoral purposes.

additional reporting PA