Yesterday felt a little bit like I was in a 25 year time-warp as I awoke to an early morning news report from Drumcree in Northern Ireland, writes Bob Morrison.
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It is over 38 years since I first ventured to Northern Ireland to photograph and report on Police and Army Armoured Land Rovers, and 25 years since I went to Drumcree and Portadown to photograph the newly refurbished PSNI Tangi fleet turned out to police the contentious Drumcree Orange Order Parade. A lot of water has passed under the bridge since then, and even my old friend Peter Hobson whose company refurbished these grey Land Rovers has finally been persuaded to retire gracefully with the recent DVD 2026 being his swansong, but regrettably common sense seems to have been forgotten again ‘over the water’.
The accompanying photos, taken near Drumcree Parish Church and on Portadown’s Garvachy Road in 2001 and 2002 show both Police and Army personnel and armoured Land Rovers plus temporary ‘peace line’ barricades in the area. With so much uncertainty in the world at the moment to we really need to go back to those bad old days of overt sectarianism in Northern Ireland?
NB: All personnel in these photos were happy to be snapped by me at the time, but faces have now been obscured as most have retired and sadly some are or may no longer be with us.
[© Bob Morrison]
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