Former Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland Nuala O’Loan has expressed concern over the reduction in Catholic applicants to the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI).
The latest PSNI recruitment drive has reported that only 27% of applicants identified as Catholic; the lowest percentage since 2013. Speaking to The Irish Catholic, Baroness O’Loan asserted that “there can be no doubt” that the hostile activities of Republican paramilitaries against police officers is a factor in this decline.
Additionally, she explained that “the general distrust generated by proposals to deal with the past is a major contributing factor,” and referenced cases of the UK Government’s “ongoing refusal to disclose information”, such as the refusal to name the Provisional IRA agent ‘Stakeknife’ until recently. According to Baroness O’Loan, situations such as this breed distrust in those considering a career in policing.
Still, the former Police Ombudsman encouraged Catholics to “join up” and maintained that “policing is a most honourable and important career.”
South Down MLA Colin McGrath, a member of the SDLP Policing Board, did not express shock at the recent figures showing the decline in Catholic applicants, sharing that “unfortunately the trajectory has been clear for some time”.
Mr McGrath also noted that if the same trajectory is to continue, the number of officers from a Catholic background will decrease to 23% in the next 10
years, according to Policing Board projections.
“Without a major intervention this situation will only get worse in the years ahead with serious consequences for confidence in policing and society as a whole,” continued
Mr McGrath.
