Nationalist Support for PSNI Totally Untenable

national | rights, freedoms and repression | press release Tuesday July 14, 2009 09:30 by PRO - éirígí press at eirigi dot org

éirígí chairperson Brian Leeson has called on nationalist parties to withdraw their support for the PSNI in response to the force’s attack on a nationalist protest in north Belfast last night [Monday].

The PSNI recklessly fired plastic bullets, as well as deploying baton charges and water cannon, as they forced an Orange Order procession through the nationalist Ardoyne area.

Leeson said: “The whole PSNI operation in Ardoyne yesterday is conclusive evidence of the unchanged nature of that force. From mid-afternoon onwards, hundreds of PSNI members in full riot gear locked-down Ardoyne, preventing residents from entering or leaving the area.

“Residents who gathered to peacefully oppose the sectarian march and the PSNI operation were repeatedly violently pushed back into Ardoyne. As the afternoon wore on, the PSNI became more aggressive, culminating in the firing of plastic bullets.

“Plastic bullets are lethal weapons which have already killed 17 people in the Six Counties. Despite this fact, the PSNI remain fully prepared to use them when the occasion calls for it – in this instance, to force a sectarian procession through a nationalist area.”

Leeson continued: “When the nationalist parties went onto the Six County Policing Board, they did so with the expressed aim of ending the human rights abuses of the RUC and holding the PSNI to account. In July 2009, it must be recognised that this project has failed utterly – the PSNI remains a violent unionist paramilitary force, dedicated to maintaining the sectarian state in the Six Counties.

“Given recent events, how can working-class nationalists be expected to lend their support to the PSNI?

“The time has come for Sinn Féin and the SDLP to withdraw from the Six County Policing Board and properly represent the interests of their communities. Failure to do so provides political cover for the state gunmen who entered Ardoyne last night and opened fire to suppress a nationalist protest.”
ENDS.