Daily
Dispatch Friday 20th October 2006
MAGINNESS:
DISSIDENTS MUST NOT FILL POLICING VACUUM
SDLP North Belfast MLA Alban Maginness said the dissident republican
splinter groups trying to assert community control by punishment
beatings and shootings must be stopped immediately.
He said: “This is a serious problem which is turning very
nasty if reports are true that these groups have a list of 20
targets, including 11 from North Belfast. The dissidents have
clearly taken a strategic decision to try to fill the policing
vacuum that still exists in a few nationalist areas. They must
be stopped. Communities which are emerging from decades of paramilitary
control must not be left at the mercy of a new generation of self-appointed
generals. They are mimicking the Provos, and no doubt they will
also want to pose as the protectors of the communities they oppress.
“These groups are really challenging the Provisional movement,
exploiting the glacial rate at which Sinn Fein is moving towards
acceptance of a lawful society. Sinn Fein holds the key to stopping
them. By giving clear leadership on policing, by showing support
for basic law and order even while they conduct their consultation
on policing institutions, Sinn Fein could put a stop to the dissident
gallop. A start could be made by announcing that all the people
exiled over the years under threat of shooting are welcome to
return to their communities. But they must also face the crunch
issue that if we don’t want 20 people shot, these criminals
must be made amenable to the courts right now.”
