8 July 1999 Edition
Nationalists fearful as RUC collude in loyalist checkpoint
An RUC patrol stood by as loyalists set up a checkpoint and checked drivers' identification in North Belfast on Saturday 26 June.
A taxi driver in the loyalist Hesketh area off the Crumlin Road was stopped by a masked gang who demanded identification. The man drove through the checkpoint but was followed and stopped by the RUC who asked him why he had driven off.
``When I demanded to know why the RUC had done nothing about the loyalists, one of them said that the men `were only protecting their district','' said the driver.
Sinn Féin's Gerry Kelly said: ``Not only is it worrying that loyalists can set up a checkpoint on a road widely used by nationalists but that the RUC will sit and watch passively beggars belief''.
In a second incident the same day near the Mater Hospital, a North Belfast Catholic who did not wish to be named said that when he approached a red light he noticed a group of men and saw one of them picking up a brick. Realising that he was going to be attacked, he drove through the red light in order to escape from the gang. The RUC who sat across the road from the gang followed the man into Ardoyne and pulled him over where they harassed him for driving through a red light.
The same man was again attacked at the Mater Hospital on Monday night. As he came down the road he saw about 20 loyalists blocking the road and pointing to his car. An RUC Land Rover was parked near the crowd but made no attempt to disperse the crowd. The man did a U-turn in order to escape the crowd.
In a further incident on Tuesday afternoon, 29 June, a group of people waiting for a taxi outside the Mater Hospital saw a blue car pull up with three armed and masked men inside. The men drove off again but an RUC patrol, parked nearby, did not follow. It is believed that the intended target was the mainly nationalist workforce on nearby building sites.
The RUC, when contacted about the incident, said that they had received no complaints about armed men in the area. They claimed, however, that there was an armed robbery half a mile away and the men may have been making their escape from this. However, doubt has been raised about the RUC's story as the car was heading in the wrong direction and so could not have been escaping from the robbery.
Sinn Féin's Mick Conlon repeated the warning that nationalists need to be wary especially with ``loyalist anger at the decision of the Parades Commission to ban Portadown Orangemen from marching on the Garvaghy Road''.
A taxi driver in the loyalist Hesketh area off the Crumlin Road was stopped by a masked gang who demanded identification. The man drove through the checkpoint but was followed and stopped by the RUC who asked him why he had driven off.
``When I demanded to know why the RUC had done nothing about the loyalists, one of them said that the men `were only protecting their district','' said the driver.
Sinn Féin's Gerry Kelly said: ``Not only is it worrying that loyalists can set up a checkpoint on a road widely used by nationalists but that the RUC will sit and watch passively beggars belief''.
In a second incident the same day near the Mater Hospital, a North Belfast Catholic who did not wish to be named said that when he approached a red light he noticed a group of men and saw one of them picking up a brick. Realising that he was going to be attacked, he drove through the red light in order to escape from the gang. The RUC who sat across the road from the gang followed the man into Ardoyne and pulled him over where they harassed him for driving through a red light.
The same man was again attacked at the Mater Hospital on Monday night. As he came down the road he saw about 20 loyalists blocking the road and pointing to his car. An RUC Land Rover was parked near the crowd but made no attempt to disperse the crowd. The man did a U-turn in order to escape the crowd.
In a further incident on Tuesday afternoon, 29 June, a group of people waiting for a taxi outside the Mater Hospital saw a blue car pull up with three armed and masked men inside. The men drove off again but an RUC patrol, parked nearby, did not follow. It is believed that the intended target was the mainly nationalist workforce on nearby building sites.
The RUC, when contacted about the incident, said that they had received no complaints about armed men in the area. They claimed, however, that there was an armed robbery half a mile away and the men may have been making their escape from this. However, doubt has been raised about the RUC's story as the car was heading in the wrong direction and so could not have been escaping from the robbery.
Sinn Féin's Mick Conlon repeated the warning that nationalists need to be wary especially with ``loyalist anger at the decision of the Parades Commission to ban Portadown Orangemen from marching on the Garvaghy Road''.