Sinn Féin could do more to support Catholic recruitment in PSNI, Taoiseach says

Sinn Féin could do more to support people from the Catholic community to join the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI), Taoiseach Micheál Martin has said.

Martin attended an attestation ceremony for 36 newly-qualified PSNI officers in Belfast on Friday with Northern Secretary Chris Bryant and by PSNI Chief Constable Jon Boutcher.

It is the first time a taoiseach has attended the ceremony since the PSNI was established 25 years ago.

The proportion of Catholics in the PSNI increased strongly in the early years but has now plateaued at about 30 per cent of the force. At a media interview after the event, Martin was asked if he believed Sinn Féin could do more to encourage Catholics to join.

“I do,” he replied. “I say that because I met the Catholic Guild [of] the PSNI two to three years ago. They were very concerned about the sense that the support wasn’t public enough and wasn’t strong enough.”

Pressed on the issue, he said that during his meeting with the guild he was particularly struck that those PSNI officers he spoke to felt they did not get that sense of support.

Publicly, Sinn Féin has supported the PSNI since 2007, when a majority of over 90 per cent at a special ardfheis backed the force and the criminal justice system in the North. It also joined the policing board.

Three prominent members of the party, who are also on the policing board – Gerry Kelly, Deirdre Hargey and Linda Dillon – attended the attestation ceremony.

The precursor to the PSNI, the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC), was a predominantly Protestant police force largely distrusted by Northern Ireland’s Catholic community.

Martin said he was a “passionate believer” in the commission chaired by Chris Patten, the former Tory chairman and the last governor of Hong Kong, which set out a blueprint for a new inclusive police force in 2001.

Asked earlier if all nationalist interests, including Sinn Féin, the SDLP, the GAA, the Catholic Church and the Irish Government could have done more to encourage more Catholics to join, he said all should be unequivocal in urging people to consider a career in policing.

“I find it very difficult to comprehend why certain elements in the nationalist community wouldn’t be absolutely working flat out to ensure the success of Patten,” he said.

Boutcher said people in some communities who wanted to join the police were being “discouraged” by their own families and by their communities. He said that was because of “outdated attitudes that Chris Patten specifically said must stop.”

Bryant said the British government wanted more Catholics to apply to be in the PSNI. He added: “There’s part of me that actually wants to say ‘no’. I just want people to be in the PSNI. No more Catholic, Protestant, or non-affiliated. Just people.

“If the PSNI is going to do its job for the whole community, it’s got to have the whole community in the PSNI.”

Martin and Boutcher were asked about a scheduled PSNI interview with Peadar Tóibín having been postponed because the Aontú leader wanted it to be conducted through Irish.

Boutcher said he would not talk about an individual case but the PSNI would do whatever was needed to “serve that criminal justice process in a fair way to everybody”.