Newry Protest Against PSNI Harassment

Once again republicans have been forced to take to the streets to stand up against MI5/PSNI harassment in Newry.

Over 70 people took part in yesterday’s [July 2] protest at Ardmore PSNI barracks in Newry, in direct response to a relentless campaign of harassment and intimidation directed towards republicans in the area by the PSNI.

The protesters were met with a large presence of PSNI thugs in several cars, armoured landrovers and on foot around the barracks, obviously fearful of éirígí’s intentions. For the duration of the protest the PSNI videoed and recorded everyone, including children, some of whom were stopped and searched last weekend.

Speaking at the protest éirígí’s Stephen Murney thanked all those who attended.

“Just a few months ago we were forced to come to this barracks to protest against harassment, now here were are again with double the numbers. At a time when people are being persecuted by the PSNI and MI5 it’s heartening to see so many people, young and old coming here to confront the thugs responsible for harassing them. Last week we announced that we would intensify our Different Name, Same Aim campaign, this protest is only the start of things to come,” Murney said.

The main speaker at the protest was rúnaí ginearálta éirígí Breandán Mac Cionnaith.

In his speech Breandán highlighted the unchanged nature of the force.

“In November 2001, amid much fanfare, the British government re-branded the discredited Royal Ulster Constabulary with a new name. And with that new name, the occupying power promised ‘a new beginning’ to policing in the Six Counties.

“Almost a decade later, it is now abundantly clear that, instead of delivering a ‘new beginning’, the PSNI has simply continued with the same failed anti-working class and anti-republican agenda of the RUC and Royal Irish Constabulary before them. The lie of ‘community-based’ policing has been exposed by the reality of increased draconian legislation, harassment and brutality,” he said.

Mac Cionnaith continued, “éirígí activists in Newry are no strangers to Crown Force harassment. Our activists, along with other republicans are being stopped under the draconian British Justice and Security Act. It’s clear that our activists and supporters in the area are being singled out for special treatment because of their political activities.

“The PSNI are only proving by their own actions that they are an unchanged, unaccountable paramilitary force. The PSNI remains a British police force, enforcing British law in support of the British occupation.

“No amount of PSNI harassment, in Newry or anywhere else, will prevent éirígí activists from continuing the work of rebuilding the republican struggle.”

Breandán concluded, “Despite what those constitutional nationalist parties who sit in Stormont may claim, that move has neither affected the function or the form of the PSNI. Nor has it placed manners on them, as one prominent apologist for British policing once claimed.

“The PSNI remains a British police force, enforcing British law in support of the British state. Like police forces across the capitalist world its primary aim remains the protection of the state and the protection of the interests of the ruling class; interests which run in direct contradiction to the interests of the working class and of republicans.”

Republican Newry will be seeing a lot more actions in the coming weeks and months and we urge all those who oppose British policing to join us in our struggle.

The Political Face of the Gardaí

In the weeks preceding the visit of Elizabeth Windsor to Dublin in May, it was made quite clear that the Twenty-Six County state would not tolerate any form of political protest.

In fact, anyone expressing any dissenting view from the official line that the commander-in-chief of Britain’s armed forces was welcome was to be regarded as a subversive troublemaker.

It began with the national media’s campaign to inform the Irish people that anyone who had the least objection to Windsor’s state visit was a political dinosaur. We were treated to warnings of doomsday scenarios in which crazed republicans, mad mullahs and members of the flat earth society would burn down or bomb our capital city to the ground. But, lest we panicked, we were assured that An Garda Síochána had a masterful plan to protect the peace from these nihilists intent only on rapine and destruction.

This plan involved the Gardaí instigating a campaign of political repression to a level not previously witnessed in the state for many years. Those who attempted to raise awareness of why Windsor should not be made welcome in Ireland were to be intimidated off the streets.

In the days and weeks before the visit, political activists were followed around Dublin and stopped and questioned on every street. Personal possessions were confiscated, as well as political leaflets, flags and banners. Activists were body searched and photographed.

Despite being shown a council permit, which allowed for the erection of political posters, Gardaí began to rip down the same posters, at first, only at night but, later, in broad daylight.

The Gardaí behaved extremely aggressively; there was plenty of charming comments to political activists such as “Just clear the fuck off home” and “We are going to sort ye out tomorrow [the day of the Windsor’s arrival].” Responses to activists who spoke in Irish included “I don‘t speak Polish” and “Just speak fucking English”. A number of Gardaí would not give their name or number.

It has been remarked that, when needed, the Gardaí are nowhere to be found in certain, invariably working class, communities in Dublin. Therefore, the scene of thousands of Gardaí crowding our streets to squash any political dissent before and during the Windsor visit demands explanation.

The short answer is that the Gardaí, just like police forces the world over, are a political organisation. Their first duty is the protection of the state and the protection of the interests of those who run the state. The promotion of crime-free environments in working class communities is way down the list of obligations, if on the list at all.

The measures taken by the Gardaí over the past weeks is a worrying sign and raises concerns for all citizens in the Twenty-Six Counties who value political freedom. Now Windsor has been and gone, what next might the state declare offensive or a threat to public order? What campaign or opinion might they next attempt to close down or silence?

Now that the Gardaí have discovered that they can suppress civil liberties without any outcry from the public, how far will they push their new found powers?

There has long been an attitude among political activists to simply accept whatever harassment they receive from the Gardaí as ‘just the way things are’. This attitude has got to change.

Republicans and socialists made a clear demonstration during the Windsor visit that the streets do not belong to the Gardaí. They belong to us, the citizens of Ireland. Irish citizens have every right to organise and express their views without harassment. People must become educated on their rights. They must learn to stand calm and firm in the face of state intimidation and to challenge it at every opportunity.

We cannot allow a situation to develop in this country where those in power believe that they will be able to close down any political activity that they wish.

The Windsor Visit – A Bad Week for Irish Journalism

For months the political, business and media establishment have told us that the Windsor visit would result in all sorts of benefits and positive changes for this state.  So now as she has finally left our shores, what are all these benefits and what exactly has changed as a result of this visit?  Has there been any postive political developments?  Has there been any change in the relationship between the peoples of Britain and Ireland?

According to Kathy Sheridan writing in the Irish Times on Wednesday - 'All is changed, changed utterly'. The reality however is completely different. Look beyond the media hype and spin and it is clear that nothing has changed at all.

As the Windsors departed our shores yesterday (Friday) their government continue to deny the Irish people the right to self-determination. Just one hundred miles up the road from our capital city, 5000 British troops continue to occupy the six counties. The 9000 strong human rights abusing British paramilitary police – the RUC/PSNI – and the hundreds of MI5 operatives who enforce the occupation remain in place also.

The RUC/PSNI continue to engage in a systematic campaign of harassment and intimidation against those who dare challenge British rule in Ireland. They continue to carry out house-raids and terrorise nationalist estates as well as engaging in illegal stop and search operations which violate human rights legislation.

The internment of ex republican POW's has also been stepped up with Marian Price last week being the latest to be jailed at the behest of the British government without trial. The denial of political status for republican prisoners, their ill-treatment and torture and miscarriages of justice all continue unabated.

Have the families of the victims of the Dublin/Monaghan bombings, the anniversary of which was the very day Windsor arrived in Dublin, received a commitment that the British government will open their secret files on their role in the atrocities? Once more the answer is no as Britain rules out doing so, denying justice yet again to the families. Yet not a single whimper of protest from the sorry excuse for leaders of this so-called 'republic' who were too busy bowing and scraping before the 'British Royals' to stand up for the people they claim to govern on behalf of.

As for the relationship between the people of Ireland and Britain, nothing has changed there either.

Why not?  Put simply this visit was never about them. This was about a select wealthy political and business elite who care nothing for the working class people of either Ireland or Britain. It was about 'normalising', not relations between Irish and British people, but rather the continued military and political occupation of the six counties.

Over recent months the establishment went into overdrive promoting this visit and trying to downplay and silence opposition to it.  However, even more shameful was the unquestioning sycophantic role played by the corporate media over this visit. We have been treated to months and months of meaningless platitudes such as 'its time to move on', 'leave the past behind us', 'forgive and forget' and the extreme nonsense that somehow welcoming an undemocratic, sectarian, head of an occupying army is somehow us as a nation 'maturing'.

Gardai try to Intimidate éirígí activists legally erecting posters in Dublin on eve of Windsor visit

In a prime example of how overwhelmingly pro-establishment, compliant and gutless the corporate media in this state is, they ensured that there was absolutely no critical analysis of these platitudes and bogus assertions. There was virtually no questioning of the basis of any of those claims regardless of how ludricous they were. Instead they merely produced article after article, opinion piece after opinion piece, parroting the 'consensus' of how great the English Monarch is and how great this visit would be for all of us.  And as for anyone who had the cheek to question this consensus the corporate media spared no effort in their attempts to portray them as somehow being political dinosaurs filled with hate and bitterness.

So it would have been hard to imagine that Irish corporate media coverage of the actual visit itself could be any more cringeworthy. However, to be fair to them, they made a sterling effort and succeeded to produce four days of vomit inducing commentary that ignored the opposition to it and ignored the plight of Dublin residents suffering under the massive security operation and lock-down. They also deliberately ignored the co-ordinated and illegal actions of the Gardai in attempting to prevent legitimate peaceful protest.

Union Jack Flies above Government Buildings Dublin while Gardai throw Irish National Flag in Refuse truck

None dared break the consensus and report on Gardai stealing posters and banners or throwing the national flag in rubbish bins and refuse trucks as they effectively banned it from the capital city of this state. There was no questioning as to whether the tens of millions of euros spent on this visit would have been better spent elsewhere, such as in our hospitals and schools or for Special Needs Assistants and Carers or to assist the families of victims of British atrocities.

They did not dare direct their “move forward” comments towards Windsor and her government. Surely it would have been appropriate to ask that in order to 'move forward' and 'put the past behind us' that the British finally end their occupation of the six counties? Surely they could have asked them if they were genuine in wanting improved relations between Ireland and Britain that they open up their secret files on their involvement in the Dublin/Monaghan bombings and other atrocities they committed in collusion with the unionist death squads (whose leaders were her special guests at islandbridge on Wednesday)?

But no, silence on these issues was the consensus. No mention of the fact that these troops of hers continue to commit atrocities around the world.  Indeed within hours of Windsor departing from Ireland, hundreds of her notorious Royal Irish Regiment (RIR) soldiers marched through Ballymena after completing their latest stint in their brutal occupation of Afghanistan. 

No mention of the fact that she is a war crimes apologist. No mention of the fact that she continues to refuse to strip from the Paratroopers responsible for the Bloody Sunday massacre the honours that she awarded those murderers. 

Instead we heard a narrative of a little old lady and her husband over for a few quiet days in Ireland to promote peace and goodwill.  And no 'journalist' dared ask the obvious question – what exactly is it about this anti-democratic, sectarian, war crimes apologist who lives a life of privilege, that has the leaders of this so-called 'republic' here in the 26 counties almost wetting themselves with excitement at the prospect of being in her company and fawning over her? 

The one sure thing that could be said about the Irish corporate media's coverage was that it could not be described, no matter how broad a definition used, as 'journalism'. Those that produced such biased, unquestioning and sycophantic reports in this propaganda blitz should hang their heads in shame. It has exposed yet again a complete lack of any credible mainstream media outlet willing to critically examine or question the political establishment line.

Tweet

Different Legislation, Same Harassment

As éirígí predicted, the recent suspension of Section 44 of the British government’s ‘Terrorism Act’ has not deterred the PSNI in its campaign of harassment against the nationalist community.

On Sunday [July 18], two éirígí activists were driving along the Armagh Road in Newry when they were stopped by the political police.

 The activists were removed from the vehicle and were forced to endure a humiliating search in front of dozens of pedestrians and motorists under sections 21 and 24 of the British government’s Justice & Security Act. 

They were then questioned about their movements and their personal details were recorded while the vehicle was thoroughly searched by other members of the PSNI for unknown items.

The remit of the British government’s Justice & Security Act, which was introduced in 2007 as one of the final elements of the normalisation strategy, is confined to the Six Counties. The act contains repressive powers for the political police, the Six County judiciary and the British army.

Rúnaí ginearálta éirígí Breandán Mac Cionnaith said: “Only last week, éirígí predicted that section 44 would simply be replaced with equally abhorrent legislation. It’s now clear that our prediction has become reality.

“éirígí activists in Newry are no strangers to Crown Forces harassment. In recent times, they have been harassed while delivering leaflets and, just last month, an activist’s home in the Derrybeg estate was targeted in a dawn raid which extended into a search operation of the estate itself which lasted the whole day. Now, our activists are being stopped under the draconian British Justice and Security Act. It’s clear that our activists and supporters in the area are being singled out for special treatment because of their political activities.

“The PSNI are only proving by their own actions that they are an unchanged, unaccountable paramilitary force. The PSNI remains a British police force, enforcing British law in support of the British occupation.”

Mac Cionnaith continued: “No amount of PSNI harassment, in Newry or anywhere else, will prevent éirígí activists from continuing the work of rebuilding the republican struggle.”