IRA denies FAIT claims
Claims by the British government funded FAIT organisation that the
IRA has been involved in a coordinated series of so-called punishment
attacks have been refuted by an IRA spokesperson who contacted An
Phoblacht.
FAIT's claim of ``IRA involvement in a series of so-called punishment
attacks is completely bogus,'' the spokesperson said.
The IRA's comments on the FAIT claims come at a time when the
credibility of the NIO front organisation is coming in for serious
questioning.
In recent weeks FAIT main spokesperson Vincent McKenna has had to
field questioning by the media over his arrest in Monaghan two weeks
ago.
Admitting in last week's Andersonstown News that Gardai questioned
him about child sex abuse cases McKenna outrageously claimed that the
IRA handed over machine guns, uncovered by the Gardai in return for
having him (McKenna) questioned.
According to the report in the West Belfast-based paper the Gardai
questioned him closely about child sex abuse.
In recent weeks FAIT, along with the Unionists, British Tories as
well as pro-Unionist Labour politicians have embarked on a serious
campaign to undermine the peace process where they have raised the
question of so-called punishment attacks.
Indeed the British parliament has debated the issue on Wednesday
afternoon where British MPs have linked the issue to prisoner
releases which they are demanding be stopped.
d it comes as no surprise that these anti-Republican elements,
whose agenda is to wreck the peace, have ignored the ongoing loyalist
campaign against Catholics and the increase in RUC harassment.
In the past three weeks numerous nationalists have been approached by
the RUC who attempted to recruit them as informers.
Questions over McKenna's future with FAIT also seem to be in the
balance at this time.
On two ocassions in the last month an anonymous caller has been in
touch with An Phoblacht accusing McKenna of bringing the organisation
into disrepute and claimng that a recent story written by Hugh Jordan
in the Sunday World, in which McKenna said the IRA had offered a
loyalist paramilitary £5,000 to shoot McKenna was a red herring.
The caller maintained that no such threat was made. Also the
anonymous caller, who seems to be close to the FAIT man, said that
claims in a Sunday paper that republicans in Armagh were about to
embark on a campaign of attacks came from McKenna but that McKenna
made the claims up.
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