THE unspoken truth absent from public discussion regarding the numbers of Catholics in the PSNI is that this is a situation many in the north of Ireland are very happy with and have little difficulty with remaining the same into the future.

Whatever about the religious composition of the police, the reality has always been that the force existed to serve the interests of the British state throughout Ireland prior to partition, and within the newly carved-out Northern Irish state in the century and more since that historic rupture occurred.

That reality consolidated the relationship between the police and political unionism, who had exclusive responsibility for governing the state from partition until the eruption of the conflict from 1969 until the Good Friday Agreement three decades later.

Consequently, changing the composition of the PSNI in 2026, when nationalism and republicanism has been elevated to equal status in the political realm and a parity of esteem culture continues to be developed across society, will have a dramatic impact upon perceptions and attitudes within the police in a manner that some would regard as both unthinkable and undesirable.

In order to address the lingering absence of confidence amongst nationalists and republicans at every level in the police today, the PSNI must be divorced from the toxic legacy of the Royal Ulster Constabulary and be perceived as a policing service reflective in composition and conduct of a deeply divided community which has sharply contrasting perspectives of our past narratives (including regarding policing) and of how division could and should be policed today and into the future.

The new chief constable, Jon Boutcher, clearly gets that, and comments from him and his Deputy Chief Constable, Bobby Singleton, indicate that this is shared at least amongst key personnel at the upper echelons of the police service today.

It was Singleton who commented last month that “anything that works to address the issue of legacy would have a potential benefit to the PSNI”, and it was also Singleton who was put forward to outline the new policy regarding the potential removal of flags erected with the purpose to intimidate.

Boutcher has also suggested publicly that the UK government naming Stakeknife could help persuade Catholics to join the PSNI, a rather naïve remark which nevertheless indicates an acceptance that legacy remains a significant barrier and a desire to address it.

Yet what has been clear is that the achievement of a PSNI which is truly reflective in composition and conduct of our society is something that will be fiercely resisted in reality at a political level.

In August 2024, the innocent act of three PSNI neighbourhood officers embracing the moment and becoming involved for a fleeting period in the jubilant celebrations in Camlough after Armagh’s historic Sam Maguire triumph provoked a ferocious series of attacks which unified all of the main parties of unionism.

For a moment, the ‘them’ and ‘us’ divide had been tangibly bridged in a powerful way by a natural expression of a desire to belong, and be seen and embraced as such.

However, the TUV’s Jim Allister declared that it was visible evidence that independent, impartial policing “had gone out the window”, whilst the DUP leader, Gavin Robinson, warned that the PSNI chief constable had been told by him that he needed “to reaffirm confidence in the PSNI’s impartiality, integrity and professional standards”. The then Ulster Unionist leader, Doug Beattie, condemned the incident as “naïve and reckless.”

In a similar vein, all three main unionist parties have reacted with hostility to the news earlier this month that the PSNI had issued a 27-page ‘Service Instruction’ to officers which aims to provide guidance and finally address the issue of the erection of flags and emblems to intimidate residents, shop owners and others – a festering sore that continues to negatively impact on confidence of Catholics in the PSNI, precisely because it remains a practice overwhelmingly associated with loyalism.

Once again, the reaction from across all strands of political unionism was overwhelmingly hostile.

The DUP MP, Sammy Wilson, described the suggestion that action could be taken against Union flags as “very dangerous”, whilst of course he had no difficulty with the police removing a tricolour as it is “not the flag of our country”.

The UUP’s Reg Empey declared that the PSNI have “more than enough to do” without removing national flags and then went on to talk about bilingual street signs (note how the issue of how those very same streets initially received their names in English is never discussed.)

The return of the 50:50 policy regarding recruitment would undoubtedly help, as it will begin to more positively change the composition of the police, bringing forward the scenario in which people whose families and communities have no desire to be involved with honouring the RUC nevertheless stand alongside colleagues with a different attitude towards policing of the past, with differences acknowledged and respected.

A more vocal, articulate and assertive approach from the political leadership of nationalism and republicanism is also required at this time to provide consistent direction, support and critical guidance, both to the PSNI and to young nationalists and republicans considering the vocation.

But the real difference-maker will be tangible evidence on a consistent basis that, whatever about our different opinions and interpretations about the past, those embracing the policing vocation today can and will fulfil their duties consistently and with impartiality in spite of the inevitable backlash that will be provoked within political unionism, both today and as we move inevitably towards the prospect of constitutional change, when a robustly neutral and non-partisan policing service will be called upon to perform its duties in the most challenging environment.

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