‘Justice’ as promised by the Real IRA in Armagh
THIS is the leaflet given to motorists forced to stop at an illegal checkpoint by masked and armed republican dissidents on a rural south Armagh road.
The leaflet purporting to be from the Real IRA claimed the masked men carrying automatic rifles and stopping vehicles at the roadblock in Meigh, were “the true soldiers of Ireland”.
The leaflets warned people not to cooperate with Sinn Fein or the police.
PSNI chief Sir Hugh Orde was forced to defend his officers after admitting a patrol in the area pulled back on Friday after being outnumbered by the Real IRA gunmen when they came across the roadblock.
Yesterday Sir Hugh, who said that dissident paramilitaries had no support within the community, said his officers had done the right thing.
However the outgoing chief constable, who steps down as head of the PSNI next week, denied that parts of the north were now policing “no-go areas”.
“It was just a stunt by a group trying to be relevant,” he said.
“This sort of activity will not put us off community policing and will not put the community off community policing.”
Four unmarked police cars carrying eight officers were said to be on routine duty when they came across the Real IRA roadblock in Meigh on Friday night.
Up to seven men dressed in paramilitary uniforms and armed with at least two AK47 assault rifles and a hand-held grenade launcher were said to be involved.
They stopped motorists and handed out leaflets claiming to be from ‘Oglaigh na hEireann, the Real IRA’.
It is believed to be the first time that the dissident organisation has identified itself by the moniker.
“In regards to anti-social behavour (sic) in our area it will be eliminated in due course.”
The sinister leaflet also stated: “Anyone passing information to the PSNI, Gardai, MI5 or Sinn Fein will be dealt with in the appropriate manner.”
Terry Spence of the Police Federation said officers in rural areas felt vulnerable due to the scaling back of resources
“In the past had police come across this sort of incident they could have engaged the military as back up,” he said.
“Now they have to send for back up, possibly from a considerable distance away, by which time the terrorists would have left the area.
“The fact is that had the officers on patrol engaged with these terrorists on Friday they could now be dead and that is not an exaggeration.
“It will be Hugh Orde’s legacy that by phasing out the full-time reserve we are now in a situation where there is simply not the numbers needed to deal with the increased terrorist threat.”
