G8 security: police, protesters and paramilitaries

A small protest by a group of just over 100 anarchists this week saw a major police crackdown in central London, hundreds of miles away from the site of next week’s G8 summit in Fermanagh.

The PSNI is mounting the biggest policing operation in Northern Ireland’s history for the summit, training recruits from across the UK to drive their Land Rovers and warning there will be “consequences” for those who break the law.

The Irish government will be deploying 900 police to the border, setting up all-night courts for protesters and placing 500 troops on standby.

Fermanagh is under a virtual state of seige…People across the north are already facing increased harassment.
Jason Brannigan, anarchist

The Irish Congress of Trade Unions has called for human rights monitors to be brought in to observe security forces’ treatment of protesters, highlighting the planned use of drones, pop-up prisons and emergency courts.

Over 5,000 people are expected to attend a trade union-organised anti-G8 rally in Belfast city centre this weekend. Thousands more are expected to attend an anti-poverty rally the same day.

The following Monday, 80 miles from Belfast, protest groups will march from Enniskillen town to the ring of steel surrounding the luxury Lough Erne golf resort.

‘Biased reporting’

Jason Brannigan, a member of Northern Ireland’s largest anarchist group, Solidarity Federation, told Channel 4 News that his group would be joining the protests.

“Bank bailouts, attacks on welfare and wages, increased poverty, desperation and hardship for the vast majority is the agenda they will continue to pursue this month in Enniskillen,” he stated.

“Already there has been biased reporting in the media of how good this will be for Northern Ireland. Fermanagh is under a virtual state of siege.”

“People across the north are already facing increased harassment as a result of the most expensive security operation we have ever been subjected to. Movement in Fermanagh and beyond is monitored and restricted. People the PSNI think likely to attend protests have received calls from ‘community’ cops.”

“Despite the anarchist scare stories it is clealy the G8 and the UK government who are prepared to dish out violence.”

Tabloid stories have claimed groups of European anarchists will descend on Ireland, but as during the EU summit in 2004, only small numbers of protesters are expected to make the trip.

The march to the G8 site is being backed by prominent figures including Eamon McCann and Bernadette McAliskey, veterans of the battle of the Bogside.

Former IRA hunger striker and trade unionist Tommy McKearney will also be protesteing. He told Channel 4 News the unprecedented police operation was delivering a political message “designed to discredit people who criticise the G8”.

“Our march will go ahead. We are not expecting it to be enormous, it will be quite modest and peaceful,” he explained.

“We’ve seen hunger strikes, the Ulster workers council and genuine threats from capable groups in the past so the size of the security operation for this seems overdone.”

Paramilitary presence

The presence of highly organised dissident republicans complicates the usual G8 policing plans – the threat of terror attacks from the re-grouped new IRA, consisting of the Real IRA and anti-drug vigilantes, has been used to justify the size of the operation.

Police have continued to face attacks in recent months, with a number of near misses. Any paramilitary attacks during the summit are likely to be directed at security services rather than the G8 conference itself, with police brought in from outside Ulster most at risk of being targeted.

In recent weeks police have seized weapons, ammunition and explosives from republicans. While dissident activity has been on the rise, there is little to link it to the arrival of the G8. In nearby Derry republicans focus more on community politics than international conferences.

Read more: The dissident threat to the G8 summit

Dissident group Oglaigh Na hEireann claimed responsibility for an attempted car-bomb attack on the hotel hosting the summit last March, and a number of mortars have been seized from groups across the region.

However, a republican source explained that while they have the political will to destabilise what they see as an event normalising British rule in the north, their capabilities are currently limited by constant surveillance from intelligence services.

The south has seen two large displays of dissident support over the past year, with 2,000 people attending the funeral of Real IRA leader Alan Ryan in Dublin and armed volunteers firing shots over the coffin. This month the funeral of former IRA leader Ruairi O’Bradaigh saw thousands of mourners jostled by riot police in a Roscommon graveyard.

British ‘normalisation’

Republican Sinn Féin (RSF) will be hosting an international “anti-imperialist forum” in Belfast this Saturday, with delegates from India, Italy, Austria and Turkey. The party is reported to be the political wing of the Continuity IRA.

RSF member Cait Trainor explained the party will join protests in Belfast as they believe hosting the G8 is a provocation from the British government, but they will not have an official presence on next monday’s march.

She said the G8 is made up of “imperialist powers coming here to hold a meeting to organise the economy for the benefit of the elite”.

The Enniskillen march will also be joined by socialist groups from across Ireland and local residents concerned about fracking. Veteran republicans from prisoners’ groups highlighting ongoing legal disputes, including the Craigavon Two case and the imprisonment of Martin Corey, will also be taking part.

Brian Leeson, leader of republican socialist group Eirigí, has been calling for people on the Enniskillen march to “ensure that another image is presented to the world: the image of a people who are far from content”.