Anger at PSNI spy cameras

national | miscellaneous | news report Thursday July 11, 2002 10:53 by McMean

Local people angry at the siting of spy cameras in the middle of the nationalist Ardoyne area of north Belfast are accusing the RUC/PSNI police of mounting an intelligence gathering operation on the local nationalist population.

Local people argue that the camera pylons sited at Estoril Park,
which is not on the interface, are intrusive and serve no purpose
other than to spy on locals.

The rotating high-powered cameras have been seen to point into
the windows of homes in the area.

In the early hours of this morning, nationalists immobilised the
camera when they set a fire at its base, using tyres. In
response, British forces moved into the area at about 5.30am to
repair the camera.

During their operation they sealed the area off and forced
families from their homes. The RUC/PSNI claimed they had to clear
the area due to a bomb alert but no bomb was discovered.

One woman who lives on the corner of Estoril Park said that she,
her daughter and four month old granddaughter were ordered from
the house by the RUC/PSNI who threatened to arrest them if they
didn't leave.

Sinn Fein councillor Margaret McClenaghan accused the RUC/PSNI of
"using the pretext of a bomb scare to get people out of the way
so that they could repair the damaged camera".

She felt that the cameras would add to the tension in the area.
"People here are very tense, they are very worried about what is
in front of them for the next few days. These cameras simply mean
more collusion to us and, God knows, this community has suffered
badly enough from collusion."

Local Assembly member Gerry Kelly yesterday attended a protest at
Estoril Park where he added his voice to the erection of the
camera.

"This is a camera in the middle of a nationalist area. You cannot
see the interfaces at all, therefore it is not connected with an
interface tension," he said.

"As usual this is the PSNI, basically brass-necking it, setting
up a camera in the middle of a nationalist area as an excuse to
invade the privacy of all these houses that it surrounds. It is
only there to collect information on Catholics and republicans
and therefore it should be removed."

Mr Kelly said he was not consulted about the new security
measures.

"I wrote to Jane Kennedy (security minister) and asked her where
the cameras were going. I got only a three-line response saying
that she would be back in touch with me and now, here we are,
watching these cameras, which I feel are just spy posts, being
put up all over the place. Are we going to see a mushrooming of
these all over Catholic and nationalist areas? It has to stop."