Following a meeting between a delegation of Alliance Belfast City Councillors and Assistant Chief Constable, Duncan McCausland, Alliance Councillor and former Lord Mayor, Tom Ekin, has appealed to the general public to support the police while it works to restore law and order on the streets. Cllr Ekin said that he is assured of the integrity of police operations, as it works to restore normality in the face of the threat of further serious disorder.
Cllr Tom Ekin said:
“We fully sympathise with those law-abiding members of the general public who are thoroughly fed up by the violence and disruption of recent days.
“However, the Assistant Chief Constable has assured us that his officers have been taking robust actions against those committing violence or otherwise engaged in paramilitary activity. There have been over 60 arrests, and the police are continuing to gather evidence. We expect them to make more arrests.
“The police are working to a programme of keeping the roads open for traffic. This has to be done calmly and professionally.
“We are urging the population to support the police in sorting out this problem, which is not of their making.
“It is clear that the vast majority of the population want decent law and order to rule on our streets. Alliance will continue to take the lead, to ensure that this takes place. While other political parties will cherry-pick what they like or don’t like about the police service, the rule of law and order applies to all of us. There is no room for equivocation for violence, from whatever quarter.
“During my term as Lord Mayor of Belfast, I worked very hard to try to present Belfast in a new light, and to improve our mutual understanding. I am bitterly disappointed that some of the people I worked with have let me down so badly.”
ENDS