THE launch of an awareness campaign costing half a million pounds and targetting the fundraising criminality of paramilitary gangs would be taken much more seriously if the current Stormont Executive was not funding jobs held by some of the leaders of the same organisations.
Counterfeit goods have always been used to raise revenue for criminals and as the copied items have improved in quality so to has their popularity with the public, who view the purchase of such items as a 'victimless crime.'
The new public awareness campaign is aimed at alerting potential customers that money spent on a fake Michael Kors bag goes towards a wider criminal organisation that may also be involved in drug dealing, prostitution and even murder.
And all that is very true. But it's hard to get the public on side about such matters when they see the Executive continuing to fund community groups, where the leadership of some organisations hold well-paid key positions, when they are clearly linked to paramilitary groups.
While there have been advances in policing since 2005 with more communities having no problem in contacting the PSNI about 'ordinary' crime, senior officers themselves will admit it's a different matter when it comes to investigating paramilitary activity as the public tend to be much more cautious.
For ordinary people to put their neck on the line and report crime linked to paramilitary groups, knowing the penalty for speaking out might be at best having to leave their home and at worst a violent assault, is a big ask.
So for Stormont to target the minions, the low-level footsoldiers selling fake goods, and not the paramilitary leaders, is a complete nonsense.
The new advert showing the reality of where your money goes is hard hitting and thought provoking.
But it is also pointless when politicians urge ordinary people to risk their lives and report gangsterism while millions of pounds is signed off effectively keeping some paramilitary leaders in fancy suits.
Giving people paid positions of influence in civic society at a time when they continue to exploit the communities they dominate, is a nonsense.
And using funding allocation structures with little accountability, and a system that stinks like a fake Chanel perfume, is unlikely to encourage the public to pick up the phone next time they're offered a cheap watch.
