Parts of Newry are no-go areas

The security forces in the North have accepted that parts of Newry are no-go areas, it has emerged.

It was reported at the weekend that the PSNI police had refused to enter an estate in the town to examine the scene of a burglary.

A woman, who was tied up and threatened at gunpoint in her home, was asked to meet detectives at a car park some distance away to give details of her ordeal.

Sinn Fein councillor Brendan Curran branded the police response as “totally inadequate and disgraceful”.

Mr Curran said the woman’s “terrible and traumatic” ordeal had been made worse by the PSNI response. Taking a statement in acar park was “totally unacceptable”, he said.

Parts of Fermanagh and South Armagh are understod to be other no-go areas for the PSNI.

In April, the PSNI’s reaction to a massive bomb attack in Newtownhamilton, Co Armagh, angered some residens. The force failed to arrive before the explosion to evacuate people living nearby even though they had received a 50-minute warning.

Instead residents were evacuated by firefighters.

In August last year, a PSNI patrol was forced to turn back after it came across an IRA check point in the south Armagh village of Meigh.

* The Real IRA has claimed responsibility for two bomb attacks earlier this year, according to a report at the weekend. The Irish News said the group was responsible for the car bomb attack at Newtownhamilton PSNI base in County Armagh. It also said it was behind a second attack on Newry courthouse in February.

Urgent Appeal