Bradley rejects call for border patrols despite hijackings

British government promises to scale down security along the border must be implemented despite calls for freight lorries to be protected, SDLP Assembly member Dominic Bradley said today.

Bradley rejected calls for joint police and Army patrols along border roads to protect lorries and deter IRA hijackers.

After a meeting on Thursday with the Army’s GOC in Northern Ireland, Lieutenant-General Philip Trousdell, Democratic Unionist leader the Reverend Ian Paisley said “hundreds of thousands of pounds” were being lost to the economy because of hijackings.

The North Antrim MP argued: “The activity of the IRA is destructive to Ulster’s social well-being and is a matter of grave concern that the police appear to have lost control of the roads in border areas.

“I have asked the GOC to supply the police with the necessary military back-up so that there will be no “no go” areas in Northern Ireland.”

Ulster Unionist MP David Burnside has also called for joint Army-police patrols after last month’s revelation that tobacco firm Gallaher’s has had to use alternative routes to transport its cigarettes from its Ballymena plant to the Republic.

Last month, Gallaher’s said police were unable to give assurances about the safety of their lorries after cigarettes with a retail value of more than £1m (€1.5m) were stolen during a hijacking in December.

The company was granted a meeting with the Northern Ireland Office.

Gallaher’s would not confirm, however, newspaper claims that it was forced to ship goods from Ballymena over the Irish Sea to Liverpool and back over the water again to reach Dublin.

The Provisional IRA has long been suspected of involvement in the black market trade in cigarettes and hijackings.

Mr Bradley insisted today security had to be normalised in Northern Ireland, with the police service taking the lead role.

The Newry and Armagh MLA also said the area in which the police operated without a military back-up “should be expanded as widely as possible.

“The decision as to how wide this area is is not within the gift of Mr Paisley or the British Army but is a matter for the local PSNI commander.

“There is clear evidence that the security situation has improved and that improvement should in parallel be reflected in continual progress towards normalisation and demilitarisation.

"The advances which have been made in these areas should not in any way be undone but should be built upon with clear moves being made towards further progress.”