Thomas Dixie Elliot This is a comment I made regarding Emmet Doyle's blog post on policing and the brutal treatment of an autistic child and the aftermath...

Excellent post Emmet. You are correct that there was a ground swell of anger at how the PSNI brutalized an autistic child in his own home with a raiding team we'd expect to see kicking down the door of a leading drug lord in any normal society.

Let's not forget that the PSNI were never reformed as was claimed but were merely given new uniforms and a new name and still retained at its core the RUC.

Drew Harris who was formally with the RUC and had links to MI5 is a prime example of this.

For years we listened to the SDLP getting abuse for sitting on the policing boards, then those handing it out joined them with strong promises of holding the PSNI/RUC to account, even making claims of hiring and firing chief constables.

The fact is, this was all waffle to open the doors to joining the policing boards and in fact, ever since then neither the SDLP nor Sinn Féin have held any member of that force to account.

Clearly policing is geared towards harassing Republicans and their families at every opportunity. This makes a mockery of the claim to be a police service especially at a time when drugs are destroying lives and leading to increased criminality which is overlooked.

This is why it is a police force. In any normal society people would be taking to the streets in protest at the brutal treatment of children which is reminiscent of the RUC.

What I fail to understand is, why was this ground swell of anger undermined by the mad actions of hijacking and destroying the livelihoods of local men. This without doubt turned the anger towards Republicans, especially when it happened during John Hume's wake.

It gave the PSNI the propaganda they so badly needed and let the politicians off the hook over their silence regarding the brutal treatment of a child.

Did no one sit back and think this out? Did they not realise that burning vans which were not owned, as claimed, by multi-national companies but leased out by Derry men who have families to feed and mortgages to pay? Add to that the loss of income until the vans are replaced again.

Many people in this city are angry at the treatment of this child but now as many are angry at the destroying of livelihoods of local men.

Where does this leave Republicans in the future who need the support of the people?


Thomas Dixie Elliot is a Derry artist and a former H Block Blanketman.

Follow Dixie Elliot on Twitter @IsMise_Dixie    

Brutal Treatment And Bonehead Reaction

Thomas Dixie Elliot This is a comment I made regarding Emmet Doyle's blog post on policing and the brutal treatment of an autistic child and the aftermath...

Excellent post Emmet. You are correct that there was a ground swell of anger at how the PSNI brutalized an autistic child in his own home with a raiding team we'd expect to see kicking down the door of a leading drug lord in any normal society.

Let's not forget that the PSNI were never reformed as was claimed but were merely given new uniforms and a new name and still retained at its core the RUC.

Drew Harris who was formally with the RUC and had links to MI5 is a prime example of this.

For years we listened to the SDLP getting abuse for sitting on the policing boards, then those handing it out joined them with strong promises of holding the PSNI/RUC to account, even making claims of hiring and firing chief constables.

The fact is, this was all waffle to open the doors to joining the policing boards and in fact, ever since then neither the SDLP nor Sinn Féin have held any member of that force to account.

Clearly policing is geared towards harassing Republicans and their families at every opportunity. This makes a mockery of the claim to be a police service especially at a time when drugs are destroying lives and leading to increased criminality which is overlooked.

This is why it is a police force. In any normal society people would be taking to the streets in protest at the brutal treatment of children which is reminiscent of the RUC.

What I fail to understand is, why was this ground swell of anger undermined by the mad actions of hijacking and destroying the livelihoods of local men. This without doubt turned the anger towards Republicans, especially when it happened during John Hume's wake.

It gave the PSNI the propaganda they so badly needed and let the politicians off the hook over their silence regarding the brutal treatment of a child.

Did no one sit back and think this out? Did they not realise that burning vans which were not owned, as claimed, by multi-national companies but leased out by Derry men who have families to feed and mortgages to pay? Add to that the loss of income until the vans are replaced again.

Many people in this city are angry at the treatment of this child but now as many are angry at the destroying of livelihoods of local men.

Where does this leave Republicans in the future who need the support of the people?


Thomas Dixie Elliot is a Derry artist and a former H Block Blanketman.

Follow Dixie Elliot on Twitter @IsMise_Dixie    

4 comments:

  1. I agree Dixie. The brutality of the RUC/PSNI in their treatment of the 14 year old autistic child was lost completely by the idiocy of those who engaged in what amounted to attacks on their own community. The peelers must have been rubbing their hands at the sheer stupidity of those who ordered the hijacking of vans and cars. As you point out these were ordinary Derry people going about their normal working day trying to provide for themselves and their families, paying bills etc.

    At one stroke they took the focus off British colonial police brutality in Ireland and lost the hearts and minds of the wider nationalist community. One must question the thinking of those who see this as advancing republicanism. These people do not speak for all traditional republicans and their actions and lack of strategic thinking and even basic common sense does republicanism a grave disservice.

    Thanks for challenging this Dixie in such an unambiguous manner. Clear and rational thinking such as yours is required now more than ever.

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  2. Are you speaking for RSF Des or who are the 'traditional' republicans you talk of? How relevant are they in Derry? Are they on the ground winning the hearts and minds of people particularly the youth. I am not condoning hijackings but what are you doing to lead the youth of Derry toward building and advancing the next generation of republican resistance. Young people already see emigration, unemployment and occupation and added to that Crown force harassment. It's not going to take much for them to rebel. How dare you take away the agency of today's generation by suggesting they have no understanding of their political environment. Again I'm not saying they may have got it bit off on this one but there is no big bogey man goading them. It's blatant, its in your face, its state harassment, intimidation and political policing so maybe let's all focus on addressing that.

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  4. I claim to speak for nobody but myself (and I don’t hide behind an anonymous profile). I speak as a life long traditional Irish Republican. Those who claim to speak on behalf of revolutionary Irish republicanism but offer only copy and pasted 1970s Stalinism as a substitute for a thought out and coherent political programme do not provide real leadership or an alternative political road to the young people of Derry, or indeed any part of Ireland. Consequently, sending young people out to engage in such activities without any strategic thinking or end goals is nothing short of nihilism and a betrayal of those young people.

    Irish republicanism has always been about projecting a vision for a better Ireland and spelling out what that means. That is why a previous traditional republican leadership invested so much intellectual and physical energy into formulating and promoting what they meant by a free and united Ireland. They did so because they recognised that it was only by possessing a credible and coherent policy would it be possible to mobilise a significant section of the Irish people behind the drive for a New, post-British withdrawal Ireland. Also, by doing so they recognised that having such a programme opened up the possibility of real dialogue among all sections of the Irish people. A real engagement about the opportunities for all of the Irish people, Protestant, Catholic and Dissenter, that were presented in building a New Ireland.

    That is the type of vision and thinking that at a minimum is demanded of anybody taking on the mantle of Irish republicanism. There is a moral as well a practical duty to reach that bar. The Irish people, who they would purport to lead rightly expect no less.

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