The mother of a mentally ill west Belfast man has said her son is in
imminent danger from a Provisional IRA 'punishment' squad.
Jane Dorrian said she had been told her son Bernard (22), who has been
diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic and psychotic, would be either shot or
seriously assaulted by the IRA.
"I'm at my wit's end. He is sleeping rough because he has been warned not to
return to Twinbrook. We have been told if we let him into the house, we
will be picketed, put out and not allowed to live in any nationalist area in
the six counties.
"Bernard needs medication four times a day or he gets really bad.
He has already tried to kill himself twice. I'm worried sick about what he
might do.
"The IRA talks about decommissioning and disbanding but it means nothing
when they are still threatening and intimidating. How many faces have they
got?"
Dorrian admitted her son is "no angel". "He has serious mental problems,
sometimes he is out of control. But if he does wrong it's up to the police
or hospital to deal with him, not the Provos."
The Sunday Tribune has seen the confidential Police Service of Northern
Ireland (PSNI) letter to the family which, despite the IRA ceasefire, warns
that Bernard is in danger.
"Intelligence indicates that the Provisional IRA in the Twinbrook area are
looking for Bernard Dorrian in order to carry out a punishment attack on
him,'' it states.
"This is believed to be in relation to a recent incident when Dorrian
assaulted a female in the Twinbrook area." The warning was delivered by Sgt
RD Campbell of Lisburn PSNI station on May 24.
Dorrian claimed her son had a heavy argument with his girlfriend on May 12
but denied he had assaulted her. "The IRA told him to get out of the area
that day.
"He slept in the forest at Lenadoon. We gave him enough medication for five
days and we brought him food and clothes.
"We got him emergency accommodation in Lurgan but they couldn't cope with
his illness there. Then he spent a fortnight in Maghaberry prison on charges
of obstructing the police.
"He is out on bail now and we are petrified he will kill himself because of
the pressure or the IRA will get him and cripple him."
Dorrian said her son had been receiving psychiatric treatment for seven
years. "Sometimes he is okay but then he could be riding a bicycle up and
down the street like a five-year-old.
"He is in and out of psychiatric units. We've told local republicans there
is no quick fix to his problems. Sinn Féin is always highlighting the high
suicide rate among our young people yet the IRA is doing this to my son."
