Date Posted:Friday, December 21, 14:04:32 Author: Sinn Féin Poblachtach - Cork Subject: Judgement shows British rule has not changed
Judgement shows British rule has not changed
21ú Mí na Nollag/December 2007
Statement by the Vice President of Republican Sinn Féin Des Dalton
The acquittal of Sean Hoey on December 20 only serves to underline the fact that British rule in Ireland has not changed. It also highlights the reality that changing the name of the British colonial police in Ireland will not change the nature or purpose of the PSNI, anymore than it did when the RIC became the RUC.
The journalist and broadcaster Eamonn Maillie speaking on the RTÉ radio programme The Pat Kenny Show on December 21 described the RUC/PSNI's practice of holding people on remand for a number of years without trial, this was the case with Sean Hoey, as "selective internment".
The very fact that such practices are still used by the forces of the British state in Ireland show that despite the political spin surrounding the Stormont and St Andrews agreements British rule in Ireland can only be maintained by coercion and the denial of the most basic civil and human rights.
