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Grand Orange Lodge of Ireland
  Orange Standard

Uneven Ratios In P.S.N.I.

Article 4 ~ February 2003

The absolutely ludicrous sectarian ratio requirement for recruitment to the Police Service of Northern Ireland has been underlined by the revelations of the Census figures.

These figures show that 43 per cent of the population of Northern Ireland is Roman Catholic. Yet, as a result of the implementation of Patten, 50 per cent of new recruits to the PSNI must be Roman Catholic and the other 50 per cent of places go to ‘Non-Catholics’ – a highly offensive term for Protestants.

In spite of the fact that Protestants make up 53 per cent of Northern Ireland’s population, they have to take their chance alongside Muslims, agnostics, atheists, and people of other faiths – surely a case of religious discrimination if ever there was one?

All this just goes to show how unfair and how wrong the sectarian head count is regarding recruitment to the badly under-strength PSNI. Excellent recruits eager to join the police service are being denied the opportunity for no other reason than they are Protestant, and there are not enough Roman Catholic recruits to achieve the 50-50 ratio of Roman Catholics and ‘Non-Catholics’.

Northern Ireland has lost the finest police force in Western Europe, by the abolition of the Royal Ulster Constabulary. It has also lost thousands of experienced and highly talented police officers due to the retirement packages offered to them in order to remove Protestants and make way for the expected influx of Roman Catholics.

The harsh reality is that the streets of Northern Ireland are more dangerous than ever before due to the absence of police officers resulting from the downsizing of the police force and failure to recruit sufficient recruits to fill the gaps and enable proper policing to take place.

It appears that religious ratios are of prime importance in deciding how many officers can join the PSNI. It’s a criteria which no Protestants, and one suspects many decent law-abiding Roman Catholics are not entirely happy with.

But if that is to be the criteria, why are the ratios not in keeping with the religious composition of Northern Ireland – 53 per cent Protestant, 43 per cent Roman Catholic? Why are Protestants not entitled to at least 50 per cent of places, not having to take their chance along with people of other faiths and none at all?

It certainly deserves an answer from the authorities, especially those responsible for the recruitment and running of the Police Service of Northern Ireland.


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