Northern Ireland is in great peril of becoming
a mafia-infested province if the Government persists in its
folly of reducing the R.U.C. to the extent of its proposal
to axe thousands of experienced officers, and to scrap the
Reserve, in a bid to appease nationalists and republicans,
as well as the Republic of Ireland government.
On many occasions the Orange Standard has drawn attention
to the deplorable state of affairs that already exists in
many parts of Northern Ireland, and the paper make no apology
for doing so again. But even previous warnings and predictions
pale into insignificance when confronted with the evidence
of what is happening in the province, and the potential for
even greater disaster.
As we have pointed out in the past, Northern Ireland is not
the place it was in 1968 when it was one of the most peaceful
places in the world. It now has a huge, and growing, drugs
problem, still intact armed organisations, and a serious crime
problem.
Six people were stabbed to death in Northern Ireland during
the Christmas period, and that's a dreadful commentary on
the deterioration in what was once a society in which murder
or violent death was almost unknown. As recently as the 1950s
and 1960s a violent death would have had people talking for
months, even years. In the 1930s the murder of Minnie Reid
near Portadown, and in 1952 the killing of Patricia Curran
at Whiteabbey produced shockwaves which were to last for decades.
Six murders in Northern Ireland over Christmas in a population
of just over one and a half million. If there had been murders
on the mainland in proportion to the population it would have
meant there would have been around 250 murders in Great Britain.
Does anyone have to guess at the uproar such a situation would
have evoked?
Sadly, today murder has become so common in Northern Ireland
that after a few weeks, apart from family and close friends,
few can recall the name of the latest victim.
That's the sort of society which exists in Northern Ireland
today, and unless there is firm determination on the part
of the Government and the authorities, it could get worse.
A recent television programme revealed the extent of violence
in the average English city or town. Even in modest sized
towns it is risky for people to go walking through the centres
on weekends due to the violence as crowds spill out of pubs,
discos and dances.
We have abundant evidence of how things are getting out of
hand, and television recently showed the appalling violence
among teenagers in Londonderry city centre at weekends - violence
caused by over indulgence in alcohol and breakdown in family
life.
In such circumstances, a Government should be seriously thinking
of increasing the size of a police force, not reducing it,
especially a force like the R.U.C. which has had such success
in combating crime down the years.
It is absolute folly and should not be even considered, so
it is vital that politicians apply maximum pressure on the
Government in the coming weeks and months to have a rethink,
and not wait until things have got even more dangerous on
the streets of this province.
The people of Kent, Hampshire, Essex and all the other counties
on the British mainland would not stand for a drastic reduction
in the size of their police force. Why should the people of
Northern Ireland be any different?
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