On the day of his death, Boreland’s own name was in print. He was almost certainly aware of this, just as hundreds of thousands of newspaper readers were once again being made aware of his criminal activities on behalf of a proscribed organisation.
Boreland could have been kept safe by arresting him and other well-known loyalists, based on any of the allegations in the public domain, with charges to follow based on any part of the PSNI’s mountain of intelligence.
Instead, that intelligence was used to issue Boreland with warnings that his life was in danger, which can hardly have surprised him. At what point did keeping sources safe trump keeping Boreland safe?
The PSNI generally offers two reasons for not arresting prominent loyalists. The first is that it cannot act without community co-operation, which is both untrue and an appalling abandonment of victims. Few dare complain about loyalists, let alone feuding loyalists, without fearing for their lives.
Interestingly, this excuse is about to be tested in Tiger’s Bay, where residents forced out by the UDA did go to the police, and have now gone to the Police Ombudsman alleging their complaint was ignored. They believe a UDA leader was being protected.
The PSNI’s second reason for not making arrests is that loyalism has a political context, which requires a political solution. Senior officers often issue this challenge directly to Northern Ireland’s all-party policing board.
The Stormont executive has just published a five-year strategy for tackling paramilitarism as part of the Fresh Start agreement. This recommends a slightly tougher approach than the outright bribery of the three-year scheme which proceeded it. However, even if the need for such pragmatism is conceded, loyalists have not been granted even a partial or temporary exemption from the rule of law. The courts have never had any problem maintaining this distinction – it is the police and to some extent prosecutors who are applying “context”. What is their entitlement to do so?
Last Sunday’s dissident march was in protest against “internment by remand” – the allegation that anti-agreement republicans are being deliberately locked up en masse without trial. In fact, of the 25 dissident republican prisoners in Northern Ireland, only six are on remand. Others facing serious charges are free on bail. The internment complaint is ridiculous but the contrast between how loyalists and dissidents are treated raises genuine questions. There is no difference in context between them – both are criminal, political and unelectable. Yet only one side appears to be subject to the law and this seems to be highly effective.
The way to keep people safe, including the likes of John Boreland, is to put the likes of John Boreland in jail.
Casualties will only mount until that is accepted.
