Sinister Approach To Republican in North Armagh By British Intelligence

By AM Sunday, May 3, 2015

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A press release from Republican Sinn Féin alleging harassment of one of its members by the British security services.

 

In recent days, a member of the Thomas Harte Cumann, Republican Sinn Féin North Armagh, was stopped and approached by British Intelligence while driving in his car with his young child. He was driving his car towards Portadown when he noticed an RUC/PSNI bike sitting at the side of the road just before the roundabout on the Armagh road. 

He continued:

 

The RUC/PSNI bike pulled out and followed me and then pulled me over asking for my licence and where I was going. I gave the RUC/PSNI member my licence and he walked to the rear of the car. It was then I noticed two other men. They came from behind and ran up to my car, one on each side.

One of them tried to enter the car by the passenger side which was locked so he rushed round to the driver side. At this stage I was trying to put the windows up but he kept grabbing it pulling it down saying we only want a minute of your time.

 I told them to go away. I was not interested in speaking to them. One was holding my licence. I asked for my license back to which he replied that I needed ‘to get my address on it changed over’ and would I hear them out ‘for one minute’.

I was very angry at this stage and told them to keep the license. I pulled back onto the main road with one still leaning into the car. The other one threw my license back on my lap saying ‘hold on, there's your license.’ I continued driving and he finally let go of the door and stepped away from the car. I drove off but the RUC/PSNI bike followed me as far as Portadown.

I had a child in the car with me, but thankfully the child slept through it all.

 

Daire Mac Cionnaith, Vice President of Republican Sinn Féin and member of the Thomas Harte Cumann, said in a statement on May 2, 2015 that this latest approach was “a sinister development” though this was not the first attempt by the British Intelligence to recruit that man as an informer”.

He continued:

This behaviour by the RUC/PSNI is a sinister development. The Republican and Nationalist community in British Occupied Ireland need to be cautious and withstand these attempts. It is clear that the RUC/PSNI member was just a stalking horse for British Intelligence who was obviously attempting to recruit our member as an informer. This is only one of many attempts by the RUC/PSNI to recruit informers in the North Armagh area.

We urge all people to report similar attempts to Republican Sinn Féin immediately,” Daire Mac Cionnaith said.