8 March 2001 Edition

Resize: A A A Print

Freedom doesn't come easy for RUC

Up to 50 Sinn Féin activists staged a highly successful anti-RUC protest in Antrim Town last Saturday. It was staged to coincide with a ceremony granting the `Freedom of the Borough of Antrim' to the RUC.

The Sinn Féin protesters assembled at a car park near Antrim RUC barracks before moving off to stage their protest at the Antrim Forum, where the `ceremony' was being held. On the way to the Forum, however, a force of RUC in Land Rovers moved in ahead of the protesters and blocked their path.

Martin Meehan, the party's representative for the South Antrim area, accused the RUC of stifling ``legitimate political expression''.

The Sinn Féin members protested at the RUC line for 20 minutes before moving off to positions on the walls of the old Antrim fort overlooking Market Square. Below, members of the `Long March' organisation held a demonstration in support of the RUC.


An Phoblacht
44 Parnell Sq.
Dublin 1
Ireland