Republican group say they are offering ‘assistance’ to nurses whose cars are clamped outside Belfast hospital - ‘any staff member needing our services....private message the IRSP’

A post on the IRSP Lower Falls Facebook page says: “Following the disgraceful stories emerging from the Royal Victoria Hospital of our healthcare staff having their cars clamped, the IRSP have acquired an angle grinder and from tomorrow morning we will be available to cut any clamps off vehicles of healthcare staff affected.

“Throughout this pandemic, our healthcare staff have been on the frontline fighting this virus, putting their own lives at risk in doing so”.

The post adds: “It is an absolute disgrace that Stormont who took away their free parking, one day tell us to clap for our healthcare workers and then clamp them the next.

“The IRSP will standby our healthcare staff and act on behalf of the community who are outraged by these recent actions, it is the very least we can do.

“Any staff member needing our services, you can private message the IRSP Lower Falls or Mid Falls pages”.

The IRSP is believed to be the political wing of the INLA.

The PSNI have been asked for a response to the IRSP’s message.

The news comes as Sinn Féin MLA Colm Gildernew branded the clamping of health care workers’ cars at hospital carparks wrong and said our health workers must be appreciated.

The party’s health spokesperson said: “After months of working around the clock on the frontline to protect us from a deadly pandemic, it’s absolutely wrong that cars belonging to health workers are being clamped.

“Our workers must be appreciated and a simple step in doing that would be scrapping parking charges at our hospitals permanently.

“Sinn Féin will be bringing forward a bill to the Assembly to abolish hospital parking charges across the north to remove the burden from patients, staff and the most vulnerable.

“This is a time where people should be rallying around our health workers, not pressuring them with added costs while providing a vital service to keep people safe.

“Sinn Féin will be raising this issue with the Health Minister – it must be resolved immediately to lift the burden off our frontline workers”.

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