Trevor Ringland: We have made huge strides in Northern Ireland and we are less defined by labels but hostility to the PSNI still exists
A letter from Trevor Ringland:
There are many qualities that we should look for in potential new police officers for Northern Ireland.
They have to be tough and brave enough to intervene, if a group of youths is assaulting someone on the street. They need the social skills to sensitively deliver news of a family tragedy. The actual range of situations they have to deal with is huge and each often demanding a different response.
One thing that does not come to mind is the officer’s religion or constitutional preference.
It is important that a society’s police force reasonably represents the community it serves. For that reason, I supported 50/50 recruitment, on a religious basis, for ten years. After all, when the RUC was established in 1922, the aim was to recruit 33% from a Catholic background.
There comes a point when we must realise that circumstances have changed.
The 1998 agreement won majority, cross-community support in Northern Ireland and the Republic. It underlined that Northern Ireland was a shared home place for all of us who live here.
Unfortunately, while we have made huge strides and are less defined by the simple labels applied in the past, there is still a degree of hostility to the police service in some corners of nationalism. And some nationalist and republican politicians and commentators have continued to beat a tribal drum on policing.
A more constructive attitude to these issues is the single thing that would make an even more representative force possible.
I would stress that any young nationalist or republican who joins the PSNI does more to promote respect for different religions and aspirations than all of those who used or use violence to pursue their political or constitutional aims. They also do more to persuade people that, in the future, an all-Ireland entity could make everyone feel welcome.
I appreciate that some recruits still face challenges within their own communities, including some violent republicans who still want to kill police officers and intimidate recruits, but for the vast majority of us, our society is on a journey away from past hatreds.
That journey must continue. Part of that includes politicians showing proper support for the PSNI, rather than engaging in hostile rhetoric towards it.
Trevor Ringland, lawyer and reconciliation campaigner