The arrest of a leading IRSP member in Limerick last week is causing "considerable anger" within the ranks of the INLA, Strabane-based IRSP Ard Comhairle member Willie Gallagher has claimed.
Mr Gallagher was speaking ahead of a bail application by six men, including Strabane men Eddie McGarrigle and John McCrossan, who are currently facing charges of being members of the INLA.
"These arrests are causing unease within the republican so
cialist movement and considerable anger within the INLA itself. A lot of people in the area are calling for the INLA to get stuck in but we in the IRSP are trying to confront that type of thinking.''
Mr Gallagher claimed that Eddie McGarrigle, who is in a wheelchair, was mistreated by Gardaí during his arrest and questioning. A statement released by the Ard Comhairle claimed three men, including Eddie McGarrigle, were "pistol whipped" by Gardaí and that Mr McGarrigle's nose was broken.
Responding to the allegations, a spokesperson from An Garda Siochana said they could not comment on individual cases.
Mr Gallagher also said he has spoken to Eddie McGarrigle in Portlaoise prison and he was "in good spirits".
The Strabane man also claimed that many members of the IRSP are "uneasy" about the way the party is being treated in the South. "It seems that there are areas in the South where the IRSP are not welcome. It looks like any IRSP members are likely to find themselves up on membership charges and that is making many members uneasy," he said.
Lawyers representing the six men will make an application for bail at the Special Criminal Court in Dublin later today.
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