I never really get the rhetoric that this “is an attack on Democracy”. Democracy is an abstract kinda thing.

When politicians refer to attacks on Democracy, they are unwittingly detracting from the fact that violence is directed against PEOPLE….flesh and blood people with real feelings. Nothing abstract about that.

We have seen the Violence…fleg related……for five weeks now. But today it stopped being …….abstract. For me.

The home of Claire Hanna, SDLP Councillor in South Belfast was attacked last night. She, hubby and baby were not at home at the time. But it is shocking. Claire has consistently raised her head above the parapet and sought to be involved in the community. She is an obviously DECENT person. As is Donal her hubby.

Claire is the daughter of Carmel Hanna, former SDLP MLA in South Belfast and of Eamonn Hanna, SDLP longstanding member. She herself stood for SDLP in Strangford in 2010 Westminster Elections. She won a seat to the City Council in 2011 and has served as SDLPs International Secretary.

She has always been extremely nice to me. Even at our first meeting Freshers Bazaar at Queens University in September 2005, whe she was on the SDLP stall. I was in my “Sinn Féin” voting phase then and she was extremely tolerant of me.

Ironically, her hubby was the first SDLP person who discovered the identity of “Fitzjames Horse”. He was taking some photographs at a fringe meeting at the 2010 SDLP Conference at the Ramada Hotel……and tried to take a photograph of me when I was asking a question and I jokingly said “no photographs please I am an international man of mystery………and I blog”.

Later he asked me if I would mind telling him my identity and I said that I did some stuff on Slugger O’Toole under the name of “Fitzjames Horse”. He immediately extended his hand and said “you write some great stuff”.

It was a simple thing. And a decent thing. Typical of the guy. It was the first encouragement I got….as a blogger…from any SDLP source. And it means as much today as it did in November 2010.

So the attack on them is not on nameless faceless strangers. The attack is on real people with real feelings.