On Monday night once again republican gunmen took to the streets in North Belfast, wounding a 30 year old man in what has been described as a punishment shooting.
Restorative Justice groups which claim to mediate with dissident republican terror groups have been awarded substantial financial assistance from a number of funding outlets, including Belfast city council.
Despite this there has been a steady increase in shootings within areas that they claim to mediate in.
Only recently one of these dissident ‘community’ groups created a bogus ‘drug dealer’ list in order to boost their stats, hoping that they could then pretend to mediate on the threats that they had themselves contrived. The PSNI failed to carry out any follow up searches on these so called community offices-despite it being publicly revealed that computers within those offices were used to draw up the bogus drug dealer list.
This has led many to believe that due to the existence of informers within the terror group that the offices are allowed to operate as an ‘out of bounds’ area for police searches following dissident shootings.
Do the PSNI rank protecting dissident republican informers higher in their list of priorities than protecting the community from the actions of armed terrorists?
Despite this terror being inflicted by armed dissident groups, Sinn Fein Councillors have not objected to funding for these dissident linked groups. Further than this we have seen senior Sinn Fein members campaigning for dissident republican prisoners, including convicted terrorist Tony Taylor. This cosy relationship has emboldened the dissident movement and led directly to vicious attacks of the sort seen in the Ardoyne area on Monday night.
It is time that the cosy relationship between Sinn Fein and armed dissident republicans comes to an end. It runs contrary to the ethos of the peace process and by being photographed at dissident rallies in support of terrorist prisoners, Sinn Fein have given their de-facto approval to their continued terrorist campaign and attacks on members of the community.
Sinn Fein must go to the PSNI and provide all information they possess in relation to dissident republicans. It is time that their violent reign of terror comes to an end and it is quite clear that the majority of PSNI and NCA resources should be directed towards shutting down these armed republican terror gangs who have been allowed to operate with impunity.
Sinn Fein’s actions and words are markedly different. It is clear they have a nod and a wink relationship with dissident republican groups and indeed they are in contact with the leadership of such groups, demonstrated by their recent public supported of convicted dissident republican terrorist prisoners.
If Sinn Fein want to walk on the ‘bright side of the road’, then they must cross over and come out of the shadow of armed republican terror gangs who continue to murder and mutilate on an almost weekly basis.