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The Irish Republican Socialist Party have called for dissolving the Royal Ulster Constabulary in the wake of the dropping of all charges levelled against the "IRSP 5."
The five IRSP members were arrested a month ago in a wave of RUC publicity alledging that a Markets man who had been an RUC agent had been abducted. These charges only came about when the RUC agent, John Bowen, revealed at an IRSP press conference that he had been encouraged by the RUC to instigate an operation that would have breached the INLA cease-fire which was called on August 22, 1998. Ard Comhairle (national executive) representative Paul Little said at today's press conference: "The RUC have operated in a covert fashion to break the INLA cease-fire, this was admitted by one of their own agents. Having been found out, they then attempted to weave a convoluted conspiracy plot that would have explained their actions and would also have left five IRSP members imprisoned. "It is quite clear that the RUC has no long-term future or role to play in a peaceful Ireland. The current changed political climate demands that in a democracy the opposition political parties not only have the right to organise but also that such opposition is recognised." In conclusion the IRSP representative said: "The RUC are totally unacceptable to the Nationalist working class community and should be dissolved immediately. There is no place for a paramilitary police group hell bent on justifying its own existence. Democracy demands that a police force should confine itself to policing and not be involved in the political suppression of a valid opposition party." |