Specialist police deployed as MI6 recruit

The PSNI has confirmed that heavily armed specialist police have been deployed in county Fermanagh following increased dissident republican activity in the area.

Announcing the drafting in of the “anti-terrorist” unit, local PSNI Inspector insisted that their “whole purpose” was “trying to disrupt terrorists and detect them moving munitions or whatever”.

The PSNI man disclosed that the new units are Armed Response Vehicles, carrying a number of semi-automatic pistols as well as carbines.

Ulster Unionists welcomed the deployment. UUP Assembly member Tom Elliott said the move would “reassure” people in Fermanagh.

“I believe that the wider community will take confidence from the fact that local policing resources are being enhanced at a time when it a real necessity.”

Fermanagh Independent Councillor, Bernice Swift said the primary aim of the PSNI remained the same as the RUC, RIC and the B-Specials.

“That aim is to protect the British state and British interests in Ireland,” she said. “It is not about combating a dissident threat

“Throughout history, Britain has deployed a wide range of tactics to maintain its occupation of Ireland; however, one element of British strategy in Ireland has remained constant for centuries and it’s that of the locally recruited militia.

“The British government and its allies in Ireland continuously claim that the PSNI is a normal police service for a normal state.

“Nothing could be further from the truth. The PSNI is just the frontline force of Britain’s ‘Axis of Evil’ in Ireland, along with the British army and MI5 forming the other elements”.

However, Sinn Fein Policing Board member Daithi McKay called for the specialist units to be deployed to deal with “difficult incidents” in other areas.

“These are dangerous situations,” he said. “We saw the threat when a device went off in Newry. It could have done a lot of damage and killed people in the area.

“There is obviously public concern about police response times for some incidents, and there is a duty on the Chief Constable and the PSNI to look at these.

“If the PSNI is unable to adequately respond to these incidents, then it is worth considering looking at a specific unit or specially trained officers to deal with such issues. That could lead to better response times and decrease the risk to the public.”

MI6 JOB SEARCH

Meanwhile, it has emerged that the British secret intelligence service MI6 is now actively recruiting in the Six Counties.

Within the past week, advertisements have been placed on employment websites in the North seeking applications for “operatives” for the secret agency.

The adverts for MI6 also indicates that its new recruits will be located within the Six Counties.

eirigi general secretary Breandan Mac Cionnaith has said the development indicated a further ratcheting up of the British government’s policy of occupation by stealth in Ireland.

Mac Cionnaith said: “This latest revelation that even more of Britain’s sinister forces are being deployed in the Six Counties demonstrates the futility of the current posturing amongst the Stormont political class in relation to what will clearly be an impotent policing and justice ministry.

“In recent years, we have seen Britain gradually increase the levels of its secret forces in the North. First of all, we had the building of the MI5 base with its 400 plus staff located within the British army base at Palace Barracks on the outskirts of Belfast.

“That was followed by the deployment last year of units of the British army’s undercover Special Reconnaissance Regiment [SRR]. The secrecy surrounding the SRR is even greater than that surrounding the notorious SAS, with very little information about the unit or its activities being permitted to enter the public domain.

“Now, we are seeing the open recruitment by MI6 of agents to be located within the Six Counties. This amounts to the active deployment of the third branch of a tripartite of secretive forces, who are accountable to no-one.”

Mac Cionnaith continued: “Given the history of MI6, including its spying missions in the Twenty-Six Counties and the widely held view that its operatives were involved in the Dublin and Monaghan bombings, this recruitment and open deployment will give rise to concern among people across Ireland.

“Just over a week ago, two of the most senior judges in Britain launched an unprecedented attack on both MI5 and MI6 for conniving in the torture of former Guantanamo internee Binyam Mohamed, lying about it afterwards and perjuring themselves in the courts.

“Armed with its government’s Official Secrets Act, MI6 will ensure that no investigative journalist, no human rights organisations, no lawyers, and no political parties in Ireland will be able to establish where these spooks are based, or how far their operational remit will extend across Ireland. Nor will anyone be permitted to know if MI6 is being located within the various PSNI and British army bases in the Six Counties.

“Such secrecy does not herald openness or transparency. It only heralds repression, injustice and the abuse of human rights. There is no place for any British intelligence agency in any part of Ireland, they should all be removed immediately.”

Urgent Appeal