In a statement on June 7, 2025, a spokesperson for Comhairle Uladh (Ulster Executive), Sinn Féin Poblachtach said: “The so-called high watermark set by Patten 1999 for the British colonial police in Occupied Ireland of achieving recruitment goals such as a 50:50 split between Catholic and non-Catholic recruits and becoming representative of the divided community it’s supposed to serve has never been met.

“Numerous factors have been assessed by the Irish News after deploying Freedom of Information (FOI) requests and according to Brian Feeney in an opinion piece. He says that on present trends the percentage of members from the nationalist community in the RUC/PSNI is likely to decline.

“Either way, Fenney also went onto say in his article, the die has been cast and that the decline in the number of nationalists joining is a matter of serious concern for other reasons, chief of which is that the RUC/PSNI is becoming less and less representative of the divided community it’s supposed to serve.

“Meanwhile, chief of colonial cheerleaders Jon Burrows, an ex RUC/PSNI boss who labels himself as the ‘fair cop’ has said that Brian Feeney has produced a very poor article and blames false facts and unfair narratives in parts of the media for one reason nationalists apply to RUC/PSNI in lower numbers.

“So rather than relying on sources that the so-called fair cop refuses to trust what about during the time he would have been collecting data for his own bosses? There would be no doubt he would trust this information, given his high regard for honourable RUC/PSNI personnel who risk their lives daily.

“A report by The Detail back in 2021 said close to double the number of Catholics as Protestants were arrested and charged over a previous five-year-period in Occupied Ireland. This data had been provided by RUC/PSNI.

“In respect to this matter, Daniel Holder, the deputy director of the Committee on the Administration of Justice (CAJ), told The Detail that these figures show a stark disparity on the basis of community background.

“Mr Holder also said: ‘We are always conscious that when allegations of bias or “two-tier” policing arise there have long been equality monitoring tools that can test the substance of such claims, including statistics on the use of police powers.’

“Mr Holder also states that CAJ has been concerned for some time that the RUC/PSNI is not monitoring the community background of individuals subjected to police powers like stop and search, and other measures.

“Sinn Féin Poblachtach says if you had to believe the so-called fair cop you would be left thinking that every other source offers false facts and unfair narratives.

“According to CAJ, there are tools there to protect the public and policing system against unsubstantiated allegations of bias but aren’t being used”.

PRO
Comhairle Uladh (Ulster Executive),
Sinn Féin Poblachtach

CRÍOCH/ENDS

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