SDLP 50/50 call branded 'legalised discrimination'
DEMANDS by the SDLP for the Government to extend the 50/50 recruitment process for the PSNI for up to 15 years has been slammed as "a call for legalised discrimination".
North Antrim MLA Ian Paisley Jnr hit out after SDLP Policing Board member Alex Attwood said the 50/50 process needed to run for another 15 years if the PSNI is to be truly representative of the community it serves.
He said: “Patten said one of the key tests of confidence in the police was having a balance of community representation in the police.
“We need to get to 44 per cent to have overall balance on the Catholic side.
“Fifty-fifty would be a key mechanism to bringing that about.”
But Mr Paisley said “no matter how it is spun, support for the extension of a policy which would deny people employment simply because of their religion is sectarianism”.
He said: “People deserve to be employed on the basis of merit and their ability to do a job.
“If that principle is correct in one field then it must be correct everywhere, including the employment of police officers.”
The DUP MLA added: “Anyone who would support this kind of policy abdicates any claim to support equality.
“They can now be clearly seen to support a sectarian and discriminatory policy yet they would seek to impose it upon Northern Ireland for another decade and a half.”
Earlier this week, Security Minister Paul Goggins announced the 50/50 system would end in 2011, when around 30 per cent of police officers will be Catholics.
When it was introduced in 2001, Catholics made up about eight per cent of the PSNI. That has now risen to just over 27 per cent.
Mr Goggins said the 50/50 recruitment process had delivered “significant change”.
He said: “It has been necessary to introduce these temporary provisions in order to deal with the historic imbalance, but of course it is important that as we move forward with confidence in policing we expect applications to come from all communities, continuing to attract people of the highest calibre.
“The record number of applications for the latest recruitment competition to the PSNI underlines the growing support for the PSNI from young men and women across the community.”
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Belfast
Thursday 09 February 2012
Today
Heavy rain
Temperature: 8 C to 9 C
Wind Speed: 10 mph
Wind direction: South
Tomorrow
Light rain
Temperature: 6 C to 9 C
Wind Speed: 9 mph
Wind direction: South east
