Recruitment posters opposed

There has been an outcry by unionists after republican activist group Lasair Dhearg said that its members had removed a Crown Force recruitment poster in Derry.

Pro-unionist media had carried reports of video footage showing republicans removing the posters from a bus shelter and placing them in a nearby bin, replacing them with anti-PSNI posters.

Over the past few months, posters recruiting for the ‘Prison Service’ in the Six Counties have appeared in republican areas, notably in Belfast and Derry. Lasair Dhearg stated that its members have been marking them for removal, including the one featured in the video.

“Top of the Hill is a community continuously oppressed by British Imperialism,” it said. “Many members of this community are republican ex-prisoners and are well aware of the role that prison officers played, and continue to play, in the oppression of republicans inside jails.”

A subsequent statement, signed by the leaders of four of the five main Stormont parties – but not Sinn Féin – condemned what they claimed was the “intimidation” of prison warders and the PSNI.

Pádraic MacCoitir, a Republican ex-prisoner and Vice-Chairperson of Lasair Dhearg, said:

“After the headlines and the publication of a joint statement from leading members of Stormont political parties, condemning the removal of ‘Prison Service’ recruitment posters and expressing support for the British state security apparatus, we note the absence of Sinn Féin’s direct support for the declaration, and their subsequent separate statements in support of the prison regime in an effort to avoid media criticism.

“It is clear that the party is keenly aware that this is a serious issue within the Republican and Nationalist community. Indeed, much of their support base and many of their members have firsthand experience of the British prison system and the ongoing effects it has within our communities.

“Sinn Féin should now join the chorus of condemnation of the so-called ‘Prison Service’ and support the removal of British state recruitment posters in Republican and Nationalist areas.

“Throughout the history of Britain’s dirty war in Ireland, the British prison system has played an integral role in the suppression of Republicanism. The communities within which these posters now appear have suffered greatly over many decades. These areas are home to many Republican ex-prisoners who are all too familiar with the lengths to which the Unionist ‘Prison Service’ will go when it comes to the inhumane treatment of those it holds captive. The depths of depravity visited upon generations of Irish prisoners in British jails in Ireland were, and indeed still are, brutal, callous, and sadistic.

“That system remains guilty of the attempted criminalisation and torture of Republican prisoners in the here and now. From controlled movement, segregation, denial of visits, denial of healthcare, to sexual assault through forced strip searches, Britain’s prison regime today continues to inflict the horrors of an unchanged system.

“The normalisation of this type of ‘recruitment’ has become a common theme within Republican districts in recent times, with similar tactics employed by the PSNI. These posters are only the most recent instance in a long list of sinister attempts to recruit members of our community.

“For those considering joining the ‘Prison Service,’ we say this: in doing so, you will set yourself apart from your community. You will become a pariah, an outcast, and part of the very system that has sought to keep your community on its knees for generations.

“Lasair Dhearg will continue to remove British state recruitment posters as they appear on our streets, whatever the consequences.”

The ‘letter of support’ for the PSNI and prison authorities was dismissed by nationalists as a stunt by the unionist media. It came amid a controversy over the strip searching of children and young after a review by the Policing Board found that the PSNI “appeared to ignore the rules” by not ensuring an appropriate adult was present at the vast majority of strip searches carried out on children in custody last year.

In a statement, the Derry cumann of the 32 County Sovereignty Movement said that regardless of what Sinn Féin and the SDLP claim, support for “this armed militia” (PSNI) remains near non-existent in Republican areas.

“The PSNI, as with the RUC and RIC before them, remain committed to upholding British rule and the institutions of partition.

“While policing here remains the same so do does our position on the matter. Reject all forms of British political policing in Ireland.”

Urgent Appeal