Catholic recruitment to PSNI ‘reversed’ says new party

Ireland’s newest political party has called for the return of the 50/50 recruitment policy in the PSNI, saying the drive to attract Catholics has “reversed”.

Currently only one in five Catholics are successful in merit-based competitions and over 80% of officers above superintendent rank are Protestant.

This comes as the Ulster Unionists rejected calls for its return, with the DUP dubbing the quota system “institutionalised sectarian discrimination”.

The policy ended in 2011.

Former Sinn Féin TD Peadar Tóibin, who left and established his own party Aontú, said that some within the Catholic community “expect that that rate could drop to 25% due to a Catholic reluctance to sign up”.

History

“Due to the history of the North of Ireland, policing has been an extremely controversial issue. Many within the nationalist community still see policing in this manner,” Mr Tóibin said.

“PSNI links to MI5 do not help matters in this regard. Many amongst the nationalist communities are concerned with the manner in which stop and search operations and house searches are carried out. The resolution of these issues is important steps in building confidence.”

Government Workforce Composition Statistics for this month, show less than a third (32%) of current officers come from a Catholic background. Mr Tóibin said: “The drive to attract more Catholics into the PSNI has lost momentum, and may even have reversed.”

His party are calling for all links with British intelligence organisations to be brought fully to an end, saying this would be of significant benefit to more representative recruitment proportions in the police force, with Mr Tóibin saying: “Aontú seeks that there is affirmative action at recruitment in the interim period.”

Criminals

He added that integrating the PSNI with An Garda Síochána “would positively encourage recruitment from the nationalist community” and that disjointed police forces across Ireland “only benefit criminals”.