Watchtower and gunmen shadow pretty N.Irish town

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.swissinfo.org/sen/swissinfo.html?siteSect=143&sid=6007330&cKey=1123985125000

CROSSMAGLEN (Reuters) - With its hanging baskets full of glossy pink flowers, squares of green lawn and old-fashioned pubs, the centre of Crossmaglen looks the picture of a traditional British village.

But the outskirts of this Northern Irish border town tell a different story.

An iron-clad fortress -- the local, army-protected police base -- squats on the main road into Crossmaglen, bristling with cameras and antennae. On the other side of town, wooden boards painted with images of masked gunmen glare down from lampposts.

A military helicopter clatters into the air, shattering the silence of a sunny summer day. snip

She remembered a time when soldiers offered sweets to local children, encouraging them over to their positions as protection against snipers.

[BoneDaddy]

1. Ah british occupation

The very rarely covered story of the Brits in Ireland, the 700 years of rape and pillagement of the Irish and their resources.