First off, this place was fortified. As in, it'll take a lot to damage these places. I guess years of playing the bad guy to paramilitary groups makes you advance your defenses. It was like an army barracks: perimeter barricades, reinforced everything, interior alarms, and innovative building designs to prevent blast damage from bombs. Oh, and not to mention the huge tower to survey the surrounding landscape to be alerted to oncoming attacks.
To be completely honest, I'm not that surprised. Police (formerly the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) before it became the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC), before becoming the current Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI). Did I mention that the Irish love acronyms yet?) were the targets of paramilitary groups because they were seen as an extension of the Crown (of England). And when these organisations are fighting to break away from England, you're going to get some violence thrown at you.
The officer giving us the tour made a really interesting point: He said "When we got peace, we were in the community, without body armor. Slowly but surely, when people didn't see the peace process working as well as they hoped, attacks started back up. Things are nowhere near as bad as they were, but we're back to wearing body armor." Interesting.
We went outside to see the vehicles, and I think the only way to give an accurate description is to call them tanks. These things are heavily armored. Reinforced everything, flaps to prevent bombs from being slid underneath. These things were designed to go through hell and back. I'd believe it.
We were just sitting in the *tank* when we had the great idea to drag a riot shield and baton out into the parking lot. Which then ended up turning into a lesson in how to use a riot shield. Those things are also reinforced.
But don't worry, I now know how to use a riot shield if you attack me: high, low, kicking, swords, offensive, defensive.
The things you learn in Ireland.
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| Barricade Walls-Outer Perimeter |
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| Surveillance Tower |
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| Police Car |
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