Patten blueprint is only way ahead.
From IRISH NEWS September 10th, 1999
POLICING goes to the heart of the matter in Northern Ireland. It is an area
of enormous importance and sensitivity for all sections of the community,
and it is impossible to envisage an overall settlement in which the issue
is left unresolved. Chris Patten and his team were faced with an immense
task, and they had to proceed in the full knowledge that their deliberations
would have a central impact on a delicately balanced political process.
The Patten Commission has responded with a comprehensive, authoritative
and challenging document, which deserves to be studied in detail by every
responsible individual. The debate will, quite rightly, continue for a period
of weeks, if not longer - but it is clear that yesterday's proposals have
the potential to transform the relationship between the police force and
the wider public in Northern Ireland. Until now, the RUC has, rightly or
wrongly, been perceived as a unionist institution. There are many reasons
for the fact that more than nine officers out of 10 are drawn from the Protestant
tradition, but, in a divided society, this was an imbalance which needed
to be addressed. The Patten report, if implemented fully, will produce a
new force which should be capable of winning the confidence of all fair-
minded people, regardless of their political or religious affiliations.
Mr Patten has stressed that he is not suggesting the disbandment of the
RUC, but he plainly intends that policing should move into a new era. That
inevitably means changing titles, emblems and symbols which were far too
closely associated with unionism in its broadest sense. Such an initiative
is made extremely difficult by the appalling and completely evil campaign
of violence directed against the RUC by republicans for almost 30 years.
The views of the relatives, colleagues and friends of the 302 officers murdered
in the course of their duty must be taken into account, but other factors
are also involved. A paramilitary campaign should never be able to prevent
the kind of sensible and appropriate reforms considered and carried out
by police forces all around the world on a regular basis. It is disappointing
that some unionist figures have initially responded to the Patten report
in a negative way, but it was also striking that they did not reject it
out of hand. The debate which is now in full swing may ease some of the
concerns which have been expressed, and it must be hoped that all our elected
representatives will contribute in a mature and constructive way. Nationalists
also have much to consider in the months ahead, most notably Mr Patten's
call for community leaders to remove all discouragements which might prevent
young men and women from applying to join the new force. Mr Patten was correct
to identify the GAA's rule 21, which bans members of the British security
forces from the sporting body, as one of the main stumbling blocks in this
regard. Rule 21 should have been deleted years ago, and this is as good
an opportunity as there will ever be to end its divisive influence. If the
Patten report is implemented, there is every reason to believe that young
nationalists and unionists can be equally recommended to consider a career
in the police force. Just as unionists have reservations about aspects of
the document, many nationalists will be uneasy that it does not stipulate
a formal ban on dual membership of the new police force and sectarian groups
such as the Orange Order. The question of political considerations playing
a role in the work of the new Policing Board also requires further discussion.
However, looked at in the round, the Patten document represents as equitable
a blueprint for the future of policing in Northern Ireland as we are likely
to find. |
