Sinn Féin urged to play part in policing
Sinn Féin was today urged to play its full part in policing in the wake of the British government’s demilitarisation plans for Northern Ireland.
Following Northern Ireland Secretary Peter Hain’s announcement that the British government aims to reduce troop levels in the province to 5,000 soldiers and defortify police stations over two years, Chief Constable Sir Hugh Orde confirmed work will begin this week on the removal of an observation post at Divis Tower in Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams’s West Belfast constituency.
But he added the scheme would take some time to complete.
With the security normalisation moves following hard on last Thursday’s IRA announcement that it has ended its armed campaign, Sir Hugh, who meets Sinn Féin MP Conor Murphy at Hillsborough today with Mr Hain, urged republicans to overcome their opposition to policing institutions in the North.
“Every community in Northern Ireland has a right to be policed,” he argued.
“In a democratic society policing is at the heart of the structures which facilitate respect for rights and duties within that society.
“I do not believe therefore that anybody who espouses the values of justice, equality and human rights can continue to legitimately deny their community the right to remedy wrongs done to them by seeking the protection of the police.
“Policing is a public service which should be available to all members of the public and public representatives have a positive obligation to facilitate us in being available to their public.
“We have a right to expect that Sinn Féin politicians will now engage directly, openly and constructively with District Commanders and all officers at local level.”
Sir Hugh said since the Police Service of Northern Ireland replaced the Royal Ulster Constabulary, his officers had been increasingly delivering a more normal style of policing.
“Substantial changes had already been made to policing on the ground as well as the appearance of our police stations and vehicles.
“This has been driven forward by police at the front end who are keen to engage with the community in order to facilitate better delivery of policing right across Northern Ireland,” he said.
Sir Hugh also observed that last Thursday’s IRA statement was clearer than anything the organisation had issued before.
But he added: “While the words of the recent IRA statement are clearer than anything we have seen from them previously, we are not alone in our view that the actions which follow that statement will be crucial and I believe that the Independent Monitoring Commission will play an important part in verifying those actions.
“This moment in the history of Northern Ireland cannot pass without us pausing to remember the loss of life, injury and pain suffered by our colleagues and pay tribute to the men and women who worked and sacrificed to police Northern Ireland in difficult circumstances throughout the Troubles.”
