British Army angers border communities
gry residents in County Louth are calling on the Dublin
government to investigate British Army incursions into the 26
Counties along the South Armagh border. The call came after a
British Army helicopter landed and eight soldiers disembarked in
Meigh last Sunday afternoon.
Local people say this is the latest in a series of recent
incursions by British troops. Late last year a County Louth
resident confronted a British Army foot patrol which had crossed
the border at Edentubber.
other British incursion, this time into Donegal, is being
investigated by the British Secretary of State, John Reid. A foot
patrol of Paratroopers was spotted crossing the border at Belleek
last Friday.
Local Sinn Féin Assembly member Michelle Gildernew and party
colleague Donegal councillor Michael McMahon held a press
conference in Belleek to highlight the ongoing intimidation from
the Parachute Regiment along the Fermanagh border in recent
weeks.
``It is not the first time that a regiment of the British Army has
crossed the border . Each time we get the standard British Army
excuse that it was `an accident' or that their personnel were
`lost','' said McMahon, ``but this will not wash.''
There have been an increasing number of complaints by residents
about the Parachute regiment in Fermanagh, said Gildernew. ``These
have included a number of assaults on young people and threats
being issued,'' she said.
Last week, a 13-year-old school boy received hospital treatment
after a para gripped him by the throat. Fergal Hughes was making
his way home from St Joseph's high school to Lismore, Crossmaglen
when he was taunted and grabbed.
The boy said a soldier had made fun of him because he was
whistling as he walked home alone. When Fergal tried to pass the
paratrooper the soldier had gripped him by the throat. He was
released after ``two fellas'' shouted at the soldier to let the
child go. His mother described her son as ``terrified, really
frightened'' by the incident.
This assault took place days after four teenagers were involved
in a confrontation with members of the same regiment in the town.
An 18-year-old was knocked unconscious.
``If the British government had lived up to their responsibilities
under the Good Friday Agreement regarding demilitarisation,'' said
Michelle Gildernew, ``then we would not be in this situation. The
British war machine would have been dismantled and this regiment
and their colleagues returned to their bases in England.''
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