Monday, October 06, 2008
Limited troops call
Following a series of attempted attacks in Fermanagh UUP MLA Tom Elliott has called army personnel to return in a support role to police. He criticised security evaluations of dissident capabilities in the area and speculated:
“Obviously they’re getting help and support which is a huge concern and I’m afraid that maybe some of that support is from coming over from mainstream republicanism.”
Fair Deal @ 01:54 PM
Alan,
Wouldn’t see any problem. Various types of police operate in different parts of the state, like the airport police and the harbour police. It might look odd for a day or two.
One of the unspoken features of the peace process has been the need for each state to keep manners on their own side. Only recently has it emerged fully that Harold Wilson wanted to pull out of Ireland but the Irish Government took fright. The point is that we (the Irish) need the British to ‘mind’ the unionists.
Equally, the British need the Irish to put pressure on the republicans. Having gardai (albeit as PSNI officers) patrolling nationalist areas of the border would queer the pitch for the remaining combatants.
Posted by on Oct 07, 2008 @ 03:35 PMNiall, interesting thoughts but the problem is that it is not simply different police for different operations but legally there are two jurisdictions involved and I am not sure how this would work in practical terms. Also I am sure it would not be a runner politically… can you see the DUP agreeing to this or indeed an Alliance Justice Minister getting involved in policing issues in the Republic?
Posted by on Oct 07, 2008 @ 03:55 PMThey could declare a certain area on either side of the border as a special security zone and have mutual patrols through the are and only when it came time to press charges would it matter what jurisdiction you were caught in.
it would probably necesitate that one member of each force present in every vehicle
Posted by on Oct 07, 2008 @ 04:20 PM
