The Catholic bishops in Northern Ireland have called for the removal of the title, the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) and the construction of a "new police service" which is politically neutral and attractive to Catholics. The bishops did not clarify whether their plea for a new force amounted to a call for the disbandment of the RUC.
The bishops yesterday privately met the Independent Commission for Policing in Northern Ireland, after which they issued a statement urging "a new beginning to policing in Northern Ireland" which would "demonstrate the right of Catholics to have a police service which is politically and culturally neutral".
In order to "secure the necessary levels of support from the Catholic community" the bishops said a number of "urgent and radical changes to existing policing policies" were needed including the dropping of the RUC name.
The bishops also urged the removal of "other British-unionist symbols" and the "constructing of a new police service which is politically neutral in all aspects of its ethos and operation". They said a minimum target of 40 per cent Catholics in all areas and ranks of the police force, including the special branch and the intelligence services should be set. The call for a name change to the RUC places the bishops at odds with the main Protestant denominations in Northern Ireland. The Presbyterian Church, the largest Protestant denomination in the North, has already urged the maintenance of the RUC name, although also proposing the "subtitle" of the Northern Ireland Police Service. The Church of Ireland, the second largest Protestant denomination in the North, has yet to make a submission to the Commission, but its views are expected to be broadly in line with Presbyterian opinion.
The Catholic bishops, however, conscious of the sensitivity of their proposals, according to one source, would not give interviews after the private meeting with the Commission. Their press officer was unable to clarify what the bishops meant by a "new police service", or to explain what timetable the bishops had for the 40 per cent target being achieved. Neither could he say how many of the five Northern bishops, who include the Primate, Archbishop Sean Brady were at the meeting.
The bishops also called for the creation of an independent body to monitor the under-representation of Catholics in the police service, a "more representative" Police Authority, a new complaints authority which would "inspire the confidence of the whole community", and in an implicit reference to the Orange Order, a register of outside interests.
They urged that sectarian harassment by police officers should be a dismissable offence, and that account should be taken of the Irish-speaking community in the provision of policing.
The bishops also proposed some shared training with the Garda Siochana.
According to their statement "the bishops also stressed the need for sensitivity to the sense of loss and loyalty which exists within the RUC and the families of those RUC members who have been killed or injured".
The statement added: "The bishops pointed out, however, that the need for a police service which enlists the consent of the whole community is so fundamental to the development of a just and stable society that the priority must remain the establishment of a new, representative and fully accountable police service for the people of Northern Ireland."
SDLP says it expects fundamental changes on policing: page 8
