‘Dangerous language’ being used to denigrate PSNI after Ormeau arrest

Doug Beattie has expressed concern at the “dangerous language” being used to denigrate the PSNI following police intervention at a south Belfast memorial event earlier this month.
By Mark Rainey
Published 15th Feb 2021, 19:09 GMT
Updated 15th Feb 2021, 19:41 GMT
Police officers intervened at the memorial marking the 29th anniversary of a loyalist massacre at the Sean Graham's bookmakers. Pacemaker BelfastPolice officers intervened at the memorial marking the 29th anniversary of a loyalist massacre at the Sean Graham's bookmakers. Pacemaker Belfast
Police officers intervened at the memorial marking the 29th anniversary of a loyalist massacre at the Sean Graham's bookmakers. Pacemaker Belfast

One officer was suspended and Chief Constable Simon Byrne issued an apology after his officers detained one of those attending the event to mark 29 years since the UDA murder of five men at Sean Graham’s bookmakers on the Ormeau Road.

The officers suspected that the event was taking place in breach of the current Covid restrictions.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

It later emerged that the man arrested on suspicion of a public order offence, Mark Sykes, had been shot several times during the gun attack in February 1992. He was released a short time later.

Video footage of the scuffles as police made the arrest sparked a social media outcry from many nationalists and some civil liberties groups.

A Twitter message condemning the police falsely claimed that Mr Sykes was “the only person ever detained by the northern authorities” in relation to the mass murder.

It was retweeted more than 400 times – including by elected representatives and leading academics,

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

At least 12 people were arrested and one charged with murder, while two men were later jailed for possession of the firearms used to carry out the killings. Two of the main suspects were murdered by the IRA in 1994.

Now, commentator and Irish unity activist Andrée Murphy has written in her latest Andersonstown News column that: “None of our kids have confidence in the PSNI, and none of our kids will join the PSNI. For the exact same reasons none of us would join the RUC.”

Ms Murphy added: “It is an institution not worthy of them. And last Friday, after seeing the PSNI assault and desecrate our grieving brothers and sisters, our young generation’s brightest and best closed the last door on any prospect of it being different.

“As long as the PSNI holds and defends the secrets of the RUC and tell the lies of the RUC the pernicious cancer that is destroying the PSNI from the inside out will go untreated. And anyone not seeing that is part of the problem.”

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Ulster Unionist justice spokesperson Doug Beattie said that the language being deployed, ahead of an investigation by the Police Ombudsman, could “corrupt the minds of a new generation of young people and those who never lived through our Troubles”.

Mr Beattie said: “It’s aim is to identify people who don`t agree with you as ‘part of the problem.’ It is dangerous language.”

He said it should not be forgotten that republicans have murdered Garda, RUC and PSNI officers over the years, and that many republicans have “never fully accepted any police force anywhere on the island of Ireland”.

Mr Beattie added: “The smears now being peddled about the RUC... denigrate the hundreds and thousands of brave men and women who lost their lives or were seriously injured in the Troubles by IRA murder squads.”

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

He added that he feared attempts were also underway “to try to smear the PSNI, to actively work against them and creating an air of fear in a society that is trying to live in peace with itself”.

He said: “We must never forget that Catholic police officers have been priority targets for the IRA and their like minded psychopaths right through the Troubles to the present day. There is an element that is still determined to ensure that young Catholics do not choose policing as a career.”

• At least 12 people were arrested following the 1992 murders. One of those questioned for seven days was then charged by police with five counts of murder and remanded in custody, however, the DPP later withdrew the charges.

The following year a man caught in possession of handgun used by the UDA killers was sentenced to seven years.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Another man arrested on a separate occasion in possession of the VZ58 assault rifle used received a 20-year sentence.

In 1994, the IRA murdered two UDA members, Joe Bratty and Raymond Elder, suspected of involvement in the Ormeau Road atrocity.

READ: Chief Constable appeals for calm following altercation at Belfast memorial event

READ: Chief Constable apologises over Ormeau Road commemoration arrest

A message from the Editor:

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Thank you for reading this story on our website. While I have your attention, I also have an important request to make of you.

With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our advertisers — and consequently the revenue we receive — we are more reliant than ever on you taking out a digital subscription.

Subscribe to newsletter.co.uk and enjoy unlimited access to the best Northern Ireland and UK news and information online and on our app. With a digital subscription, you can read more than 5 articles, see fewer ads, enjoy faster load times, and get access to exclusive newsletters and content. Visit https://www.newsletter.co.uk/subscriptions now to sign up.

Our journalism costs money and we rely on advertising, print and digital revenues to help to support them. By supporting us, we are able to support you in providing trusted, fact-checked content for this website.

Alistair Bushe

Editor