Republican threat on Catholic PSNI officer slammed

An SDLP member of the Policing Board has slammed republicans after a Catholic PSNI recruit in Newry was forced to flee his home at the weekend after a threat was made against him by dissident republicans.

The MP for South Down, Eddie McGrady, described the threat as "an expression of the extreme republican attitude to the new police service".

He said that such developments impeded the process of establishing the PSNI as representative of the culture and demographics of both communities.

"This is an attempt by those involved in paramilitarism and organised crime to prevent the establishment of a new police service which is acceptable to everyone in the community," he said.

Mr McGrady added: "The only legitimate force here is the PSNI and until we have that fully trained and in place, the community is at risk from paramilitaries, organised criminal gangs and indeed, domestic crime."

Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams has said that republicans should not treat the PSNI differently to its forebear the RUC. Unionist attacked those comments as offering carte blanche to republican paramilitaries to continue attacks against police officers.

However, Mr McGrady said that he believed the changes needed within policing were happening and he was reassured "enormous changes to the culture of the force" had occurred.

"The force is not representative at the moment but change is beginning to occur quite quickly. As well as more Catholics applying, the whole training process, human rights and equality agenda are making enormous changes to the culture in the force," he said.

In June, Sinn Fein chairman Mitchel McLaughlin refused to condemn the planting of a car bomb at the Ballymena home of a Catholic man who had recently graduated into the PSNI.

(GMcG)