Video: PSNI officers use chainsaw to remove front door of IRSP’s west Belfast office during raid

Specialist officers have used a chainsaw to remove the front door of the office of the Irish Republican Socialist Party (IRSP) in west Belfast.

ootage posted online shows officers in a dawn raid on Costello House -the headquarters of the political grouping – using heavy cutting equipment to remove the security door at the front of the building.

Police also removed a lock on a gate surrounding the property of the party, who are widely believed to be the political wing of the INLA.

Onlookers watched on as the PSNI search party gained access to the property.

It took several minutes to remove the security door.

One officer is seen in the footage using a circular saw to cut a hole in the door before another steps forward with a chainsaw to remove the door entirely from its hinges.

Officers were later seen removing a number of items from the building in evidence bags.

Police later said the search was linked to ongoing INLA criminality.

Last month, masked INLA men fired shots at a commemoration for Hunger Striker Mickey Devine in Derry.

The PSNI came under heavy criticism for not intervening and arresting those responsible despite having information that the ‘show of strength’ was to take place.

The armed republican group are also thought to have fired shots at the funeral of a member in west Belfast in August.

A picture posted online showed a masked gunman close to St Peter’s Cathedral in the Divis area of the lower Falls.

The PSNI has been urged to investigate the alleged incident at the funeral of IRSP member James McWilliams.

DUP Policing Board member Trevor Clarke said at the time: “This is far from the first funeral where such events have taken place but unfortunately the PSNI have a dismal record when it comes to collecting evidence from them. Firstly, the PSNI needs to state whether they were aware of this funeral taking place and had put any evidence gathering operation in place. They then need to state whether they are now going to open an investigation into this blatant terrorist display.”

More recently, the IRSP have been involved in organising leafleting claiming landlords are leasing properties in west Belfast to people involved in anti social behaviour.

In a statement posted on an IRSP Facebook page, the organisation said: “This morning at approximately 6.40am, heavily armed members of the PSNI raided the IRSP HQ on the Falls Road in west Belfast.

“Not only is Costello House the political headquarters of the IRSP, it provides vital services to the local community such as housing advice, benefits advice, restorative justice and recently it has been the centre point for the local West Belfast community to campaign and organise against landlord exploitation and high rents.

“It comes as no surprise that the PSNI have chosen to raid the office of the IRSP at this time, due to rising tensions between the West Belfast community and landlords”.

A spokesperson for the PSNI said “officers from the Paramilitary Crime Task Force investigating ongoing criminality linked to the INLA have conducted a search of a property on the Falls Road in west Belfast this morning, Wednesday 8 September.
“A number of items were seized and removed for further examination.
“The investigation remains ongoing”.