22 April 1999 Edition

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RUC using tragedy for own ends

by Pádraig MacDabhaid

Sinn Féin's Barry McElduff has responded to concerns voiced by people living in the Castlederg and Aghyaran areas that the RUC is using the murder of a 91-year-old woman ``to gain acceptance with nationalists on the one hand and to gather intelligence on the other''.

Mary Anne McLaughlin, from Castlederg, died weeks after suffering a brutal sexual assault in the bedroom of her home on the Donegal/Tyrone border. The RUC subsequently announced that it would begin a voluntary DNA screening program of people in the Castlederg and Aghyaran areas.

However, the fact that it is the RUC that is collecting and examining the samples has raised genuine reservations among the nationalist people of the area, reflecting the general unacceptability of the force among nationalists.

McElduff said that while he appreciated the sensitivity of the situation, ``the RUC have succeeded in creating a climate of suspicion and are using the investigation as an opportunity to gather forensic evidence on local people''.

He explained that he has been approached by many people who feel that the RUC are using the murder inquiry as a form of harassment, using pressure tactics to secure DNA samples.

``Most people, while feeling compelled under the circumstances to cooperate with the RUC, believe that the force is not a suitable agency to be gathering such information. Many who are refusing to work with the RUC have expressed their opinion that some sort of independent group would be better suited to collecting such information.'' McElduff explained that ``many people have expressed a willingness to provide DNA samples to the Western Health and Social Services Board or local surgeries but not to the RUC''.

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