The Ulster Unionist Assembly member for Newry & Armagh, Danny Kennedy MLA, has voiced his serious concern at the level of illegal fuel smuggling and dumping in his constituency. Mr Kennedy raised his concerns with senior PSNI commanders at a meeting last Friday and he intends to seek an early meeting with HMRC officials to further highlight the situation in his constituency.

Mr Kennedy said, “The scale of the problem is almost epidemic and I call on both the PSNI and HMRC to make an example of those responsible by court convictions, instead of allowing them to effectively "plea bargain" their way out of justice.

“I recently met with desperately worried Protestant families in South Armagh who believe there is a very sinister element to the pattern of illegal dumping of diesel in the area. The diesel dumping sites were similar to the locations used to dump the bodies of IRA victims during the Troubles, a fact which is not lost on the local minority Protestant population.

"Clearly both the PSNI and HMRC need to do more to restore confidence to the entire law abiding population of South Armagh and especially the Protestant minority who live there. Arrests, though welcome, must be followed up with charges and convictions rather than allowing those responsible to negotiate and pay their way out of jail".

“There is an uneasy feeling within the local Protestant community that "political expediency" is preventing the full rigour of justice from being applied, given the inevitable links the diesel operators have to Republican paramilitaries. I want to see those responsible made more accountable for their actions, which is causing such distress to my constituents, and doing immense damage to the local environment in addition to the cost to the local hard pressed tax and rate payers.”