West Tyrone Sinn Féin MP Pat Doherty has condemned the harassment of a young party member from the Mid Tyrone area. Barry McNally, chairperson of West Tyrone Ógra Shinn Féin was held at a checkpoint in the village of Moy on Saturday past (19th September). Mr McNally underwent a search as well as having his car and personal belongings searched.
The PSNI had set up a roadblock in the village and were asking drivers for their licences. However it is claimed that when PSNI members asked for Mr McNally’s licence they also asked him to pull his car to the side of the road. According to the local MP Mr McNally was spread-eagled at the back of his car and searched before having his car searched for the next 45 minutes.
Speaking Pat Doherty MP said:
“This type of policing is totally uncalled for and unwarranted. Those of us who are advocating community policing and wider community engagement are finding such incidents make the case for community engagement even harder. Such policing practices are counter-productive in terms of building support within the nationalist community for policing in the north.
“This young man was told that he was being detained under the Prevention of terrorism act and that the PSNI believed he could have items likely to be of use to terrorists. This is just the most recent case of harassment to young republicans in the local area. Indeed this young political activist was detained on spurious grounds after being taken off a bus by the PSNI whilst going to Belfast from Omagh a number of years ago.
“This is petty policing and harks back to days gone by. It is clear that some within the PSNI are intent on derailing Sinn Fein’s strategy of holding the PSNI accountable and bringing a new beginning to policing. There are some within the ranks of the PSNI who are finding it hard to deal with the new political realities and are resisting the changes that Sinn Fein are bringing to policing. They must realise that harassment and roadside detentions must be consigned to the dustbin of history.
“We have brought this issue to the attention of our representatives on the Policing board and DPP and I will be in contact with the PSNI District commander at the earliest convenience demanding an answer of the PSNI actions in regards this issue.
“This so-called operation dissent is causing a huge inconvenience to members of the public. I would question the nature and scale of the operation, which is confined almost exclusively to nationalist areas. This operation amounts to blanket harassment for people living and working in nationalist areas.
The PSNI had set up a roadblock in the village and were asking drivers for their licences. However it is claimed that when PSNI members asked for Mr McNally’s licence they also asked him to pull his car to the side of the road. According to the local MP Mr McNally was spread-eagled at the back of his car and searched before having his car searched for the next 45 minutes.
Speaking Pat Doherty MP said:
“This type of policing is totally uncalled for and unwarranted. Those of us who are advocating community policing and wider community engagement are finding such incidents make the case for community engagement even harder. Such policing practices are counter-productive in terms of building support within the nationalist community for policing in the north.
“This young man was told that he was being detained under the Prevention of terrorism act and that the PSNI believed he could have items likely to be of use to terrorists. This is just the most recent case of harassment to young republicans in the local area. Indeed this young political activist was detained on spurious grounds after being taken off a bus by the PSNI whilst going to Belfast from Omagh a number of years ago.
“This is petty policing and harks back to days gone by. It is clear that some within the PSNI are intent on derailing Sinn Fein’s strategy of holding the PSNI accountable and bringing a new beginning to policing. There are some within the ranks of the PSNI who are finding it hard to deal with the new political realities and are resisting the changes that Sinn Fein are bringing to policing. They must realise that harassment and roadside detentions must be consigned to the dustbin of history.
“We have brought this issue to the attention of our representatives on the Policing board and DPP and I will be in contact with the PSNI District commander at the earliest convenience demanding an answer of the PSNI actions in regards this issue.
“This so-called operation dissent is causing a huge inconvenience to members of the public. I would question the nature and scale of the operation, which is confined almost exclusively to nationalist areas. This operation amounts to blanket harassment for people living and working in nationalist areas.
Meanwhile member of the Policing Board, Daithi McKay has condemned Saturdays detention:
"There is no doubt that there are certain officers within the PSNI who are intent on continuing to do everything in their power to harass Sinn Féin members and carry out this old out-dated style of policing. This episode at the checkpoint in Charlemont was truly pathetic and is just one of many stories behind the PSNI’s high number of Stop and Search statistics. If certain officers feel that they can continue to do this, hide behind legislation and get away with it then they will. It harks back to the past and is one of a number of contributory factors which could drag this society back into conflict. That is not something that we want to see happen and if senior PSNI members want to see this prevented then they need to put procedures in place to ensure that the harassment of people like Barry McNally because of their political opinion comes to an end."
5 comments:
ruc/psni same old policing
Good to see this being challenged by Pat and Daithi, we can now make an impact when the bigotted elements harass republicans. J
frig sake i would stop mcnally too!!!
Free McNally now!
I'm just annoyed that he allowed them to take one of my tickets!!! Mairéad
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