25 November 1999 Edition
University body slammed for promoting British Army careers
By Padraig MacDabhaid
Sinn Féin Down District Councillor Paddy McGreevy has slammed UCAS (the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service) for distributing promotional literature on behalf of the British crown forces.
UCAS handles admission procedures for university applications and McGreevy made his remarks after undergraduate students from his constituency received information from UCAS on careers with the British Army.
McGreevy said: ``In the same week as undergraduate constituents of mine received information from UCAS on careers with the British Army, over 300 British intelligence files containing photographs, names and personal details on Irish nationalists appeared in a loyalist cache in Stoneyford Orange Hall. Such examples of collusion demonstrate how the British Army is not in the North of Ireland to keep the peace but to defend the Union.
``By allowing the British crown forces access to undergraduates on its mailing list, UCAS is causing offence to a great many people for whom the British Army represents an army of occupation, not a career option. I have written to the Chief Executive of UCAS, Dr Tony Higgens, registering a formal complaint on behalf of my constituents and asking that its vetting system be strengthened in the immediate future.''
Sinn Féin Down District Councillor Paddy McGreevy has slammed UCAS (the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service) for distributing promotional literature on behalf of the British crown forces.
UCAS handles admission procedures for university applications and McGreevy made his remarks after undergraduate students from his constituency received information from UCAS on careers with the British Army.
McGreevy said: ``In the same week as undergraduate constituents of mine received information from UCAS on careers with the British Army, over 300 British intelligence files containing photographs, names and personal details on Irish nationalists appeared in a loyalist cache in Stoneyford Orange Hall. Such examples of collusion demonstrate how the British Army is not in the North of Ireland to keep the peace but to defend the Union.
``By allowing the British crown forces access to undergraduates on its mailing list, UCAS is causing offence to a great many people for whom the British Army represents an army of occupation, not a career option. I have written to the Chief Executive of UCAS, Dr Tony Higgens, registering a formal complaint on behalf of my constituents and asking that its vetting system be strengthened in the immediate future.''