RUC in hiding after N.Y. TKO
By Christy Ward
The Royal Ulster Constabulary won't be taking part in any public
displays of charity in New York City next week, after a boxing match
at the prestigious Jacob Javits Convention Center in Lower Manhattan
was abruptly canceled when grassroots Irish America raised its voice
in protest.
The most militarized policing force in modern European history was
dealt a technical knock out even before the first bell sounded - put
out of the ring by a few old Fenians with a couple of fax machines.
Proving the old saying that the squeaky wheel gets the grease, Irish
Americans came out swinging and delivered one square to the chin of
the RUC boxing team, leaving some to ask if there weren't a few glass
jaws behind those ever-present riot helmets.
While no one objected to money being raised for a New York City
police officer who was seriously injured when he was run down by a
drunken driver - the reason for the boxing match - people did object
to the most discredited police force on the planet feigning
charitable gestures as part of its continuing public relations
campaign in North America.
The controversy has died down now, and like so many things associated
with the RUC, this one is now shrouded in secrecy, with the members
of the NYPD refusing to return calls to reporters.
Two weeks before the match came to light, nearly 200 Irish American
activists braved the winter cold of Washington, D.C., to attend a
protest outside the White House, calling for the end to shared
training between the RUC and the FBI. That protest was organized by
the Mairead Farrell unit of Noraid in Virginia.
When word first leaked out that the RUC was to be on the NYPD boxing
card, Noraid, the largest republican support group in New York City,
issued a press release condemning the RUC's inclusion in the program.
Paul Doris, the national chairperson of Irish Northern Aid said,
``this was a real grassroots effort. Calls were made to people who
could exert pressure in the right offices in the city. The Mayor was
called, the Police Commissioner was called. In the end, the RUC had
to go into hiding,'' said Doris.
Frank Durkan, the noted New York civil rights attorney and
chairperson of the Americans For a New Irish Agenda, stepped in,
calling the RUC ``the most discredited police force on the face of the
earth.''
Other Irish American organizations added their weight to the fight
and before the first bell could sound, the RUC were on the ropes.
Irish American business people and members of influential unions also
made calls to City Hall, standing firmly in the corner of Irish
Nationalists in the North of Ireland who have routinely been
persecuted, prosecuted and murdered by members of the RUC.
One New York businessman with roots in Ireland said, ``they'll be
lucky if they can find a restaurant in the city now that would even
host the RUC for a quiet dinner.''
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