The man injured in a pipe-bomb attack on his house in Loughinisland, Co Down, by loyalist terrorists has categorically denied any involvement with republican paramilitaries.
Mr Patsy Shields, who sustained hand and groin injuries in the attack, said he "had no idea" why he was singled out by the Orange Volunteers, who have admitted responsibility for the attack.
Speaking after his release from hospital yesterday, Mr Shields said he had never been a member of any organisation, but he was attacked simply because he was a Catholic.
"I was an easy target last night because I am a Catholic. I am absolutely sure that this was a purely sectarian attack." There could be no doubt his assailants intended to kill him, he added. The attack occurred shortly after 9 p.m. on Tuesday when Mr Shields and his wife Bernadette were in the kitchen at the back of their isolated farmhouse, about one mile outside the village. The blast shattered all the downstairs and upstairs windows at the back of the house.
Mr Shields was hit by the flying glass. His wife sustained shock but no physical injuries. Mr Shields said he considered himself "very, very fortunate" not to have been injured more severely, as he was fewer than three yards from the force of the blast. The victim blamed the attack on the Loyalist Volunteer Force, some of whose members are assumed to be operating under different guises such as the Orange Volunteers since the LVF declared a ceasefire last year.
"Everybody in this area knows who those people are. They are the same people that were responsible for the murder of six people in this village four years ago," he said.
Mr Shields claimed that the police knew who his assailants were.
He added that a missile had been thrown at the windscreen of his car two weeks ago. He also claimed members of the security forces had harassed him in the past.
The Sinn Fein Assembly member for South Down, Mr Mick Murphy, who visited Mr Shields at his house yesterday, condemned the attack as "the work of loyalist elements intent on bringing down the Good Friday Agreement".
The Deputy First Minister, Mr Seamus Mallon, called the attack "a mean, spiteful act which took place in a quiet village already scarred by terrorist infamy".