Republican News · Thursday 12 September 2002

Sinn Féin demil protest at Lisanelly base

Sinn Féin organised a white line picket at Lisanelly British Army Military Base in Tyrone on Tuesday evening to protest at the lack of demilitarisation and the intensification of British military activity in the Omagh District Council area.

"The protest is timed to coincide with the annual 'Beating the Retreat party' held at the base," Councillor Seán Clarke explained. "This is little more than an attempted PR exercise on the part of the British military. This year's wining and dining of local 'dignitaries' is taking place at a time of unprecedented British military activity in the district, and especially in Mid-Tyrone.

This protest is designed to highlight the abject failure of the British government to live up to their promises of demilitarisation under the Good Friday Agreement.

"More than four years on from its signing, the massive British military installation at Lisanelly remains not only an intrusive blot on the Omagh landscape, but the continued occupation by the British military of 200 acres of prime development land is acting as a block against the ongoing efforts to regenerate the town and indeed the district."