Shadowy forces behind Derry raids

The 32 County Sovereignty Movement has warned that undercover British military personnel have been witnessed operating on back roads around Derry city, heavily armed and dressed in black military fatigues.

The warning came after eight homes were raided by the PSNI in a major crackdown on Derry republicans.

Four of the homes raided belonged to the relatives of four IRA Volunteers who died on active service. Two of the raids took place on the homes of IRA Volunteers Eddie Mc Sheffrey and Paddy Deery on the anniversary of their deaths.

In one house belonging to a member of the 32CSM in the Creggan area, floorboards were lifted and skirting boards removed in the house during the search. Photos and documents belonging to the Sovereignty Movement were taken.

Personal effects were ransacked and personal items had been confiscated “in a highly aggressive and insensitive manner”, the 32 County Sovereignty Committee said. “Numerous young children have been left terrified as a result”.

The searches follow claims from British security forces that the Real IRA has recently undergone an internal restructuring and that younger members, with a strong Derry focus, have taken over the leadership.

“We would call on those politicians and spokespersons for the Catholic Church, who are usually very vocal in their condemnation of other things, to come forward and condemn this harassment,” the group said.

“Nothing illustrates the continuity of the RUC’s lineage in today’s PSNI, more startling than the fact that they choose this anniversary to invade the homes of the sons of each of those dead Volunteers.

“The fact that the date on the warrants authorising these raids predated both raids, proves that this force has deliberately used the time surrounding this anniversary to send an unmistakable message to Derry Republicanism.

“Our message is equally clear just like the Mc Sheffrey and Deery family, friends and supporters refused to be brutalised by the RUC 23 years ago, so to will we refuse to be brutalised and intimidated today.”

* Over 40 republicans took to the streets of Newry yesterday [Saturday] to protest against PSNI harassment in the city.

The protest was organised by éirígí in response to a dramatic upsurge in Crown Forces harassment directed towards party activists in the area in recent months. The harassment has included house raids, stop and searches and, more recently, threats and assaults.

The protesters gathered at Ardmore barracks in Newry, where they erected a banner on the fortified sangar situated at the front of the militarised base. They then proceeded to paste posters exposing the unchanged nature of British policing in the Six Counties on the front wall of the barracks.

For the duration of the protest, those in attendance were kept under constant surveillance by Special Branch police, who filmed and videoed the protesters and even went to the lengths of recording the registration numbers of passing motorists.

Urgent Appeal