Policing and Justice
By Stacey Graham “Loyalists have had it easy”- That is what an anonymous Twitter account told me today after I shared Loyalist Jim Wilson’s opinion piece on policing. Jim (rightly) highlighted in his piece that relations between the RUC and Loyalists were not as some would lead us to believe and the narrative that it […]
QBy Andrew McQuillan @ajmcq1993 What does the state of policing in Northern Ireland, twenty years after the departure of the RUC, say about the political and societal condition of the place today? One of the most common takeaways at the time of the rebranding – or depending on your point of view, demise – of […]
By Jim Wilson I was nineteen years old when I was arrested and interned in Long Kesh. I need not point out the obvious reality that this transpired without any due process, any evidence of any offence being put to me. If you were to listen to the historical narrative, you would believe internment was […]
In a lengthy discussion, Jamie Bryson and Billy Hutchinson discuss loyalism and policing. Billy provides an outline of loyalism’s historic troubled relationship with the RUC, discusses the concerns over two tier policing post the creation of the PSNI and sets out his vision for how trust in policing can be repaired within PUL communities. https://youtu.be/w5aaP5Krlb8
By Jamie Bryson The PSNI report is an extraordinary effort to take two tier policing to a new level. This report puts into writing the core ethos of the PSNI, which is plainly- as an overriding objective- to secure, and maintain, the support of the nationalist community. In this context, as a collateral purpose the […]
By Jamie Bryson Policing was conceived in the womb of political appeasement. The organisation came into being based on the proposition that the RUC had to be disbanded, because it commanded no support from the nationalist community. And thus, a police service was created with a core objective of winning nationalist support. All things, including […]
By Jamie Bryson @JamieBrysonCPNI The FOI request reveals that in its four years of existence, the Paramilitary Crime Task Force has not issued a single statement with the word ‘IRA’ or ‘PIRA’. This stands in stark contrast to 62 statements in relation to loyalists. Despite not being asked to do so, the FOI response sought […]
By Jamie Bryson The initial quarantine regulations were laid on 5 June 2020 and came into force on 8 June. Their long title is The Health Protection (Coronavirus, International Travel) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2020 (‘the regulations’). They can be found HERE The obligations on persons arriving in Northern Ireland from a country on the quarantine […]
You can download the full report UVPS- From Warfare to Lawfare- Response to IRC Report “Notwithstanding the ‘design fault’ within the Fresh Start process, it is important to note that loyalist organisations do not get the credit deserved for the manner in which the respective groups have been held together in a cohesive manner. There […]
By Jamie Bryson The independent report by Johnathan Baume, which looks at the actions of the Charity Commission and the Department of Communities, was commissioned by former head of the civil service, David Sterling. A RUC Widow, whose husband was disabled in the line of duty by an IRA terror attack, was sent a threatening […]