Recruitment attempts
Strabane Sinn Fein member Colman McCrossan has challenged RUC Chief
Constable Ronnie Flanagan to come clean on two recent incidents where
plainclothed RUC men approached him in an attempt to recruit him as an
informer.
The first incident took place on Monday, 26 April, at Coleraine Railway
Station while McCrossan was returning from University. A casually dressed
man who commented that he had read a number of McCrossan's letters in the
papers approached the University of Ulster student. The man then identified
himself as a local RUC officer and as the Sinn Féin member stood up to
leave he called after him saying: ``You're a student, you're `skint, and I
can make it worth your while.'' On arrival in Strabane, McCrossan
immediately contacted Sinn Féin and gave a written account of the incident
to his solicitor, a local priest and reported to incident to the university
faculty but decided not to publicise this incident until he had finished
his degree as this would have attracted the attention of loyalist
paramilitaries in the area.
The second encounter took place on 26 May in the Waterside area of Derry.
McCrossan had made a telephone call to arrange to meet a friend the same
morning and as he neared his destination the same branch man appeared in
front of him. ``It is obvious to me that the RUC could only have gleaned
prior information about my intended movements on that day from my telephone
conversation,'' said McCrossan. As he walked a short distance to a built up
area, the branch man began issuing implicit threats, referring to his home,
his partner and to the seven years he had spent in Long Kesh.
McCrossan challenged Ronnie Flanagan saying: `` There has been a massive
upsurge in attempts by the RUC Special Branch and British Intelligence to
recruit Sinn Féin activists. I now challenge Ronnie Flanagan to explain why
Sinn Féin, a legitimate political party which has fully endorsed the peace
process, is being subjected to such treatment while loyalist paramilitaries
are being allowed to carry out daily attacks against the nationalist
community with virtual impunity.'' He has also demanded that British
Telecom explain how the RUC are able to monitor the private conversations
of the public.
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