Policing for republicans?

Patricia Campbell ....24 November 2002 

Two years ago I was quoted in Fourthwrite as saying: who’d ever believe we’d live to see ex-IRA men being encouraged to join a reformed RUC, a force that will use lead and plastic bullets, Diplock courts and special powers to curb republicanism"

It looks more certain that the D-day is looming. The new-look police service is shaping up to open its doors to Sinn Fein (SF). Alongside this come statements from SF personnel, which signal their imminent acceptance of the two seats on the policing board. Last week, the optimistic former Stormont Education Minister, Martin McGuinness, dubbed by the press previously as the IRA’s Chief of Staff, eagerly awaited the Queens speech on policing during the ceremonial opening of parliament.

South Down elected SF representatives recently quoted in the Sunday Business Post, complained that the PSNI were not doing enough to combat dissident republicans. The SF president is optimistic the new chief constable, Hugh Orde, can bring about change because he is from a different culture and it has been reported that senior SF figures have called for the Chief Constable to be given a chance to "prove himself". Who would doubt that the Chief Constable hasn’t done just that already, having secured a senior position in the Metropolitan police force and now the most senior post in the North of Ireland, and who would doubt he will not continue to prove himself.

Isn’t it amazing what we have lived to see and hear.

Patricia Campbell ....24 November 2002