Taoiseach Micheál Martin has said Sinn Féin could do more to encourage Catholics to join the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI), expressing concern that momentum to make the force's religious balance more reflective of the community has been lost.
Mr Martin was speaking after becoming the first taoiseach to attend a passing out ceremony for new PSNI recruits in Belfast on Friday. The event came at the end of a week marking the 25th anniversary of the PSNI, which replaced the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) in 2001 as part of peace process policing reforms.
Recruitment and Representation
Catholic representation in the RUC was around 8% when the force was succeeded by the PSNI. The new organisation hired on the basis of 50:50 recruitment in its first 10 years, with one Catholic recruit for every one person from a Protestant or other background.
While the number of Catholics rose markedly across that time, their representation has plateaued since and currently sits at close to 31%, despite the overall proportion of Catholics within the population of Northern Ireland being around 46%. The ongoing threat posed by dissident republicans, who have proactively targeted Catholic police officers in the past, has been one factor cited in discouraging Catholics from signing up.
Calls for More Encouragement
Asked whether nationalist political parties such as Sinn Féin and the SDLP, the Catholic Church, organisations like the Gaelic Athletic Association, and his own government could do more to encourage young Catholics to join the police, Mr Martin said: "We should be doing much more to encourage."
He added: "The Irish government is, and I'm open to working with the British government and the Garda, the PSNI, to see can we come up with more innovative, novel ways in terms of recruitment and retention."
Mr Martin said everyone in the community should be "unequivocal" and "loud" in their encouragement, adding: "I think younger generations have moved on. Of that, I'm certain. But they need leadership from older generations too. They need acceptance, toleration, but above all encouragement."
He also said he found it "very difficult to comprehend why certain elements of the nationalist community wouldn't be absolutely working flat out to ensure the success of Patten", the report that led to the creation of the PSNI, and that reticence had resulted in momentum being lost.
Specifically asked if he believed Sinn Féin could be doing more, Mr Martin replied: "I do." He noted that when he met the Catholic Guild in the PSNI, members "didn't feel that sense of support", adding: "That's their perspective and not mine."
Support from Officials
Mr Martin was joined by Northern Ireland Secretary Sir Chris Bryant and PSNI Chief Constable Jon Boutcher as they watched 36 new recruits participate in the attestation ceremony on Friday. Afterwards, Mr Boutcher said there was a need for "clear and unequivocal support" for the PSNI as a career choice.
Sir Chris said he hoped for a time when recruits were just referred to as "people" rather than by their religious domination, adding: "If the PSNI is going to do its job for the whole community, it's got to have the whole community in the PSNI."
