Decision day on fate of police station

A decision will be taken today on whether to close down one of the most prominent police stations in the heart of republican West Belfast.

The Northern Ireland Policing Board is meeting to decide the fate of the highly-fortified Andersonstown police station, which became one of the most-bombed security bases during 30 years of terrorist violence.

At the junction of the Andersonstown Road and Glen Road, opposite Milltown Cemetery where the IRA buried its dead, the station was central to policing in Belfast.

But in the wake of the IRA ceasefire and the signing of the Good Friday Agreement, the SDLP has been pressing for it to be pulled down - along with other security bases which have already gone.

PSNI Assistant Chief Constable Duncan McCausland will give the Policing Board a presentation on whether the police themselves think they can do without the base.

The police declined to say in advance what advice they will give, but it is anticipated they will opt for closure.

However if the Policing Board do give the go-ahead for closure it could be 18 months before it is demolished.

If the station goes it could reveal a medieval Celtic settlement beneath its buildings.

According to local historians, records show there are the remains of an Iron Age fort and a 14th-century church on the site.

Last year the remains of a medieval castle, believed to be the first built in Northern Ireland, were uncovered during an archaeological dig on the site of a former military base in Dungannon, Co Tyrone.

Alex Attwood, MLA, the SDLP policing spokesman and a member of the Policing Board, said his party had proposals for the development of the site which included an archaeological dig.

“This is a landmark site which requires landmark development reflecting the sad experienced of many in and around the barracks and conveying a vision of the future of West Belfast,” he said.