Unionists’ last minute decision to join Police Board

Following weeks of uncertainty the Ulster Unionist Party and the Democratic Unionists have decided to nominate three members to the Northern Ireland Police Board.

The move came just as the Thursday midnight deadline for nominations came into effect.

After hours of talks with the Secretary of State Dr John Reid at Castle Buildings both David Trimble and Ian Paisley announced their parties would nominate members to the board.

In a statement UUP leader David Trimble said: “We recognise that at this stage, taking our places on the board gives us the best opportunity to exercise the greatest influence over the future of policing in Northern Ireland.”

But he said his party would not be softening its stance on the reforms first drawn up in the Patten report. In his letter confirming his nominations he said his party considered both the Patten Report and the policing plan to be a “clear threat to good policing”.

Democratic Unionist leader Reverend Ian Paisley, who spoke after Mr Trimble, denied his party was using Mr Trimble’s decision as “cover”. In his statement, Mr Paisley criticised the Ulster Unionists for not holding out longer on their nominations to the board as a method of extracting concessions for unionists.

Dr Reid has welcomed the historic creation of a Policing Board in Northern Ireland. He said: “I am now in a position to create the new Policing board which Patten recommended. The SDLP nominated their political members this afternoon and the UUP and DUP have given their nominations on Thursday evening.

“This is a momentous step forward for policing in Northern Ireland. The Board can now be appointed to take on its new responsibilities for developing the police service in the interests of the whole community.”

He added that he regretted Sinn Féin “could not join us at this time” and that he hoped they would take up the challenge for the “good of their community”.

In an open letter to Dr Reid explaining why his party could not take up their positions on the Board, Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams said: “The new beginning required by the Good Friday Agreement has yet to be realised and British government proposals for the RUC fall short of the Patten recommendations in significant ways.

“It is our considered opinion that the threshold from which to achieve that objective – the implementation of Patten – has been denied us.”

Meanwhile, as Northern Ireland faces another deadline in the political process, Dr Reid has the task of making the crucial decision before Saturday midnight to either suspend the institutions temporarily, call a review or fresh elections. (AMcE)