Brown Square Residents Left Exposed and Unprotected Wed 14th August 2013 North Belfast DUP MLA William Humphrey has led a delegation of Brown Square residents and party colleagues to a meeting with senior PSNI officers at Tennent Street station this afternoon, regarding the events of last Friday evening. Accompanying the six residents were Rev Edith Quirey, Rector of St Stephen’s and St Luke’s Church of Ireland, Millfield, and DUP Councillors Frank McCoubrey, Naomi Thompson, Brian Kingston and Guy Spence. Attending on behalf of the PSNI were District Commander Chief Superintendent George Clarke and Area Commander Andrew Freeburn. Speaking after the meeting, William Humphrey said: “We arranged this meeting so that residents of Brown Square could express directly to senior PSNI officers how they had been threatened with sectarian attack by a large republican mob after being left exposed and unprotected during a crucial period on Friday evening. Party colleagues and I had called door to door in the Brown Square area on Monday morning after hearing what had happened. Residents explained that on Friday afternoon and early evening PSNI vehicles were positioned in Brown Street, at the junction with Millfield. However these were withdrawn during the evening, at around the same time that they heard that the dissident republican parade was going to be re-routed onto Millfield, along the side of their estate. At the same time a large group of republicans came along Millfield from the direction of Divis. Around 150 gathered on Millfield at the Brown Street entrance to Brown Square, shouting sectarian abuse and threatening to attack the area. This was extremely frightening for residents who had been left totally exposed and unprotected by the withdrawal of the PSNI presence. PSNI officers did then arrive to seal off the end of Brown Street while the dissident republican parade passed along Millfield, during which there was further sectarian abuse shouted at Brown Square residents. This incident left residents feeling badly shaken and angry. Those present appreciate that there were exceptional circumstances on Friday evening. PSNI officers explained that at one stage they were dealing with active disorder at 4 or 5 different places in the city centre. However, from comments made on the night it was clear that some of the police officers on duty did not know whether Brown Square was a unionist or nationalist area, and therefore its vulnerability to attack. It was clear that residents had not been informed of the decision to re-route the parade and that they had been inadequately protected. This is a settled community, with many elderly residents, and they do not wish to go back to the experience of former years when the area regularly came under sectarian attack. This is further evidence of why this undisciplined dissident republican parade should have been deemed contentious. The conduct of participants was grossly offensive, sectarian and bigoted. Chief Superintendent George Clarke said that he would take on board the views of residents in his report to the Parades Commission, and will follow up some specific complaints regarding the conduct of officers and undertakings made by police officers which were not fulfilled. He committed the PSNI to attending a series of follow-up meetings with residents, both at neighbourhood police level and senior officer level.” Rev Edith Quirey, Rector of St Stephen’s and St Luke’s Church of Ireland, whose church was unexpectedly passed by the dissident republican parade when it was re-routed along Millfield, added: “I have viewed on internet video the conduct of the republican parade as it passed our church. It is clear that once parade participants realised they were passing a Protestant church, they increased their volume. There was republican music and IRA songs being sung. Without doubt this was done to be deliberately offensive. Our church should be afforded the same respect as any other church.” ENDS
Posted on: Wed, 14 Aug 2013 18:06:35 +0000
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