The Police Service of Northern Ireland is on course to reach its target of 30 per cent Catholic officers within the next three years, the Northern Ireland authorities revealed today.
Northern Ireland Office Security Minister Paul Goggins disclosed in a written statement the proportion of Catholic PSNI officers was 23.71 per cent last month - three times greater than it was in 1998.
Over 80,000 applications to join the PSNI have been received from all sections of the community in Northern Ireland since 2001, he also confirmed.
"Over the last few years a more representative Police Service in Northern Ireland has been emerging, with the proportion of Catholic officers in the full time PSNI increasing from 8.3 per cent in 1998 to 23.71 per cent in February 2008," the minister said.
"In addition, over the first 13 competitions some 80,000 applications have been received from across the whole community.
"This figure reflects the fact that there is a new generation who are ready to commit to a career in PSNI and emphasises that confidence in our new policing structures is rising."
Under police recruitment procedures, 50 per cent of all new members of the PSNI must be Catholic and 50 per cent Protestant.
The ratio was set in a bid to address the historically low number of recruits from the Catholic and nationalist community.
PA