Republican News · Thursday 26 June 2003

80-year-old injured by British Army helicopter

80-year-old woman suffered a broken arm and severe bruising after being blown off her feet by a British Army helicopter while out walking in Bessbrook, Count Armagh on Friday 13 June. There has been a significant increase in British Army helicopter activity in South Armagh over the last three weeks.

The Chinook helicopter was setting down at the new landing site at the Bessbrook British military instillation. The injured woman said she was thankful that her grandchildren were not with her when it happened.

Newry/Armagh Sinn Féin spokesperson, Conor Murphy, has called for an immediate ban on all British Army helicopter activity in South Armagh. "We are fortunate that this well respected member of the local community was not more seriously injured and my thoughts are with both her and her family," he said. "The people of South Armagh deserve to see a peace dividend. This means a real and lasting programme of demilitarisation and an end to British Army helicopter activity."

Meanwhile, Fermanagh/South Tyrone MP, Michelle Gildernew has criticised the British government's attitude to demilitarisation after it was confirmed in the British House of Commons that troop levels in the North have only been reduced by 1,000 in the past five years.

"Five years on from the Good Friday Agreement, this is a pathetic effort at implementing what is after all a British government commitment," she said. "Demilitarisation is not an optional extra in terms of the overall implementation of the Agreement; it is a central element of any conflict resolution process."