THE NORTH’S Minister of Justice David Ford has insisted there can be no justification for extending the current “50-50” system of recruitment for the PSNI beyond the time limit of March next year.
Mr Ford told the annual conference of the Irish Association in Newry, Co Down on Saturday that the system which was designed to increase the number of Catholics in the PSNI was “artificial” and “illiberal” and that it should not be prolonged beyond March.
The Minister was responding to a question from local SDLP Assembly member Dominic Bradley who said that the system of ensuring that 50 per cent of all recruits to the police service were Catholics was one of the “major planks” of the peace process.
He said that rather than halting the system next year it should be extended until 40 per cent of the PSNI was Catholic, which would be a more accurate reflection of the religious balance of the population in Northern Ireland.
The system was designed to bring Catholic representation to 30 per cent by March 2011 and Mr Ford said that objective was close to achievement with 29.3 per cent of the force now Catholic.
“I believe that after 10 years it is time to move to merit rather than artificial, illiberal quotas,” he said.
Minister for Social Protection Éamon Ó Cuív, who also addressed the conference, did not demur from Mr Ford’s comments. What was key was to establish a police force acceptable to the broad community and “then applications will reflect the balance of the population”, he said.
The Irish Association was founded in 1938 and part of its mission statement is to foster co-operation and friendship throughout the island and to make “reason and goodwill take the place of passion and prejudice in Ireland”.
The theme of Saturday’s conference was “Northern Ireland – a problem solved rather than settled”. Mr Ford said he questioned whether any society can be truly settled but felt that the North was “more settled than solved”.
While great progress was achieved it was important to recognise that much more needed to be done and that establishing a “coherent” strategy to deal with the past was vital.
“How we deal with the past will either become another vehicle that takes us forward, or it will become a road block to progress,” he said.