It is hugely disappointing that the PSNI, instead of preparing to celebrate the 25th anniversary of its launch next year as a heartening success story, is having to address fundamental questions about its religious balance.

Past and present flawed political interventions mean that developments which are entirely contrary to the spirit of the new era so painstakingly constructed a quarter of a century ago are growing in seriousness.

It was always envisaged that the PSNI would eventually contain as close to an even number of perceived Catholics and Protestants as possible, with those from other or no faith backgrounds equally welcome.

There were plainly a number of reasons for the fact that its predecessor, the RUC, was overwhelmingly Protestant, but it was agreed on all sides that change must follow as part of the breakthroughs associated with the 1998 Good Friday Agreement.

Noel Doran: A quarter of a century on, the PSNI risks losing what made it work

The GFA established the Patten Commission on policing under the direction of the former British cabinet minister Chris Patten, and, as soon as Maurice Hayes was named as one of its members, I was sure that its work would be transformational.

I had known him since I was a child, as he was a good........

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