PSNI's 50/50 recruitment policy ends
The 50/50 recruitment of Catholics and Protestants to the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) is to cease within days, the British government has confirmed.
Northern Ireland Secretary Owen Paterson said that having considered responses to a public consultation on the issue, he had decided to end the policy on March 28.
He said the strategy, introduced to boost Catholic membership when the PSNI replaced the predominantly Protestant Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) in 2001, had seen Catholic numbers rise to nearly 30%.
When the landmark Patten report on policing reform in Northern Ireland was unveiled in 1999 the RUC had around 13,000 police officers, with only 8% drawn from the Catholic community.
Mr Paterson said: "Some 10 years after the introduction of the provisions, a significant proportion of serving officers - currently 29.76% - are now from a Catholic community background.
"This is at the top end of the critical mass identified by Patten.
"It represents a tremendous change since the time of the Patten report when only 8.3% of Royal Ulster Constabulary officers were from a Catholic community background."
Politicians and interest groups had been divided over the removal of the recruitment policy. While unionists branded the policy discriminatory, others said Catholic numbers in the police remained below the Catholic share of the population which sits at over 40%.
But Mr Paterson said major change had been achieved in policing, while the growing political stability around the power-sharing arrangements at Stormont had also influenced his decision that the time was right for a change.
He added: "Last year also saw the completion of devolution, with policing and justice powers transferred from Westminster to the Northern Ireland Executive.
"With this transformation in the composition of the PSNI and Northern Ireland's continued political progress, the use of these special measures can no longer be justified.
"The government, the Department of Justice and the PSNI remain fully committed to the principle of the PSNI being reflective of the society it polices.
"The provisions have clearly been instrumental in getting us to this point but they were always intended to be temporary and now that the principle has become fully embedded it is right that they come to an end allowing PSNI composition to develop naturally."
The Secretary of state said he had received 162 responses to the consultation on the issue and he said it was now important for community leaders to ensure the police service retained community support.
"We want to see this progress continue and for Catholic representation in the PSNI to grow further over time. We must all play a part," he said.
"The issue of a PSNI which is reflective of the community it polices is now one which must be owned and taken forward by local politicians, local community leaders and all of the people of Northern Ireland."
