CHILDREN in Northern Ireland are being shot in paramilitary punishment attacks at a rate of one every three weeks, according to a report published today.

About 19 children aged between 13 and 17 were shot by republican and loyalist terrorists last year, the second-worst year on record. Republican terrorists were particularly vicious in their targeting of children as they sought to keep police out of their areas, the report says.

The situation has become so desperate, the report’s author says, that he even suggests a quota system for Northern Ireland ’s main terrorist groups to help them gradually to reduce their attacks on children.

Children were the victims of 12.5 per cent of republican “punishment” shootings and 26 per cent of such beatings. The attacks often cause lifelong injury and involve weapons such as baseball bats, breeze blocks, nail-studded sticks and sledgehammers.

Among the children attacked by Protestant groups last year was the 17-year-old son of Johnny Adair, the loyalist terrorist, who was shot by his father’s henchmen after starting a fight in a Belfast shop.

Because of his father’s position, he was given a “clean shooting” through the calves rather than the knees. Most children are not shown such favouritism.

The report, entitled They Shoot Children, Don’t They?, is a reminder of the failure of political advances in Northern Ireland to translate into a better quality of life in working-class districts. Its author, Liam Kennedy, Professor of Economic and Social History at Queen’s University, Belfast , said: “This is a reality check for all of us who felt that the signing of the Good Friday agreement and the inauguration of power-sharing meant that paramilitary organisations were going to go out of action.

“Not only have they not faded away but they are still very active on the ground, doling out the most brutal forms of ‘punishment’ against the most vulnerable people in their communities.”

The report says: “Existing policies have failed in relation to the protection of children from paramilitary abuse. If the political resolve to face down the paramilitaries is not forthcoming, then a modest proposal, in the spirit of Dean Swift, might prove more effective.

“It is to allocate a quota of child victims each year to the IRA, the UDA and the UVF, with the quota reducing progressively by the year. This would at least have the merit of definitively reducing the incidence of paramilitary child abuse.”

Last year was the second-worst since the Troubles began for “punishment” attacks, with 312 shootings and beatings carried outby republican and loyalist terrorists.

The attacks included an attack on Harry McCartan, 23, who was nailed to a stile by loyalists who accused him of being a joyrider.

There has been little improvement so far this year, with a total of 148 shootings and beatings until July 6, compared with 156 for the same period last year.