SAOIRSE32

Belfast Media
Andersonstown News Monday
by Roisin McManus

Director of Relatives for Justice (RFJ) Mark Thompson has described the wearing of poppies by PSNI officers in West Belfast as “repugnant and offensive”.

Mark contacted the Andersonstown News on Thursday morning after he saw two PSNI officers on the Falls Road wearing poppies on their hats.

“The poppy is a political statement and therefore should be prohibited from the workplace – this is especially the case concerning public servants such as the PSNI,” said Mark.

“The wearing of the poppy to ‘commemorate and honour’ the British army by members of the PSNI in West Belfast is repugnant and offensive to the vast majority of people within our community given the role of the British army. It is a throwback to the days of the RUC that appears to be alive and well within the PSNI,” he added.

“Those PSNI members sporting poppies, including their superior officers, are all very well aware of the symbolism and contentious nature of this issue yet the provocative wearing of the poppy continues year in year out,” said the RFJ Director.

“It’s time for decisive action on the part of the PSNI chiefs – remove the poppies or remove from West Belfast those who refuse to remove their poppies. Don’t hide behind legislation and flags and emblems acts. The challenge is yours and the people of West Belfast, and elsewhere throughout this statelet, will watch this space,” he added.

Mark said that there are those who will seek to equate the poppy with the wearing of shamrock.

“One commemorates death and destruction by an imperialist military force, the other is a celebration of a patron saint who brought Christianity to Ireland,” he said.

“The archaic legislation equating the poppy with the shamrock needs to be addressed and replaced.

“It facilitates unionists to lord it over their nationalist counterparts within the workplace and that’s precisely the motivation of the PSNI in wearing poppies within our communities. Equality and neutrality must become the norm until the legislation is addressed,” he added.

A spokeswoman for the PSNI said: “Poppies may be worn with decorum and at the appropriate period, in accordance with Equality Commission guidelines.”