16 July 1998 Edition
RUC protect loyalists
Finbar Conway, SF councillor in Cookstown, has blasted the RUC for protecting loyalist vandals while they painted kerbstones red, white and blue. Several residents complained to the councillor after seeing RUC men providing security for the gang on Saturday evening 11 July.
Conway said, ``This simply underpins the reality that the RUC is a loyalist force.''
The councillor said that local people are entitled to ask why young nationalists are dragged off to court and fined for this activity whilst the RUC provide loyalists with cover to engage in the same acts. He confirmed that he would be raising the matter with the Dublin government, the Belfast centre for human rights and would be urging the Department of Environment to clean the kerbstones after the holidays.
Conway said, ``This simply underpins the reality that the RUC is a loyalist force.''
The councillor said that local people are entitled to ask why young nationalists are dragged off to court and fined for this activity whilst the RUC provide loyalists with cover to engage in the same acts. He confirmed that he would be raising the matter with the Dublin government, the Belfast centre for human rights and would be urging the Department of Environment to clean the kerbstones after the holidays.