History dictates otherwise

IN everything to do with Northern Ireland, symbols are crucial. As I have written before, there is a great deal of historical "baggage" which colours attitudes, on both sides of the political and religious divide. Many years of conflict and hostility have left a situation in which the co-operation which is normal in the rest of the United Kingdom does not occur.

That background makes the steps which have been taken in the peace process remarkable. The achievement of an executive including representatives of the - Roman Catholic - nationalists and the - Protestant - Unionists would for years have been unthinkable. It became a possibility as a result of the Good Friday agreement of 1998.

Once again, the maintenance of that agreement is under threat. There are several specific issues which can be identified as causes of the threat. One of the most far-reaching is the organisation of the police. The Royal Ulster Constabulary has traditionally been a largely Protestant para-military force. It has had, over the years, an almost impossible task to perform but, in performing, it has attracted the deep mistrust of the Nationalist/Catholic population.

The need for a fundamental reorganisation of the police was recognised, and the Conservative former Minister (and last Governor of Hong Kong), Chris Patten, produced radical proposals for reorganisation. Among the key points were: a reduction in the size of the force; a provision that recruitment should be aimed at achieving a half Catholic, half Protestant, composition, and a change of name to Police Service of Northern Ireland.

The Bill which has reached Parliament to implement the changes has been strongly criticised by Nationalists for not producing the alteration in composition, and by Unionists for "insulting" the force by the change of name and cap badge. (It should be noted that the Bill marks some compromise from the original Patten proposals.)

If one is seeking a symbol that demonstrates the depth of mistrust which so sadly still blights progress in Northern Ireland, one could not find a better example than the police.

Unionist attitudes reflect it perfectly. The Unionists' position is that they are determined that the province shall remain part of the United Kingdom - hence their description as "loyalists". They wish things in Northern Ireland to be as they are in the rest of the U.K.. More precisely, that is their ostensible position, because in fact things are simply not the same as in the rest of the U.K., and the RUC is most certainly not like the police service in the rest of the country.

As I write this, I am preparing to take part in a selection board for senior police officers applying for a national course which qualifies them to apply for chief officer (that is, assistant chief constable and chief constable) rank. The course, and the selection system for it, are examples of national quality control in a service which is organised on a local basis. Each police force is run separately, with operational control vested in the chief constable. Standards of entry, however, and training, and operational requirements that must be met, are laid down nationally.

Crucially, it is not possible for anyone to become chief constable of a force in which he or she has served throughout a career; there must be a period spent, as assistant or deputy chief constable, in another force. This is to prevent "in- breeding". It is not a perfect provision, but it is nevertheless quite effective, and it ensures that there is movement and "cross-pollination".

RUC officers go through the same selection hoops - but, for entirely understandable historical reasons, there is much less movement between the RUC and other British forces. For equally understandable historical reasons, the RUC has been an armed force; the police forces of mainland Britain traditionally have not.

From the Nationalists' point of view, fundamental changes are necessary if policing in the province is to be by consent of the people. It is easy to see why the Unionists are wary of such fundamental changes but, in pure logic, they must accept that without them Northern Ireland will remain manifestly quite different from the rest of the U.K.. It is not consistent to claim full integration in the U.K. and claim also that the RUC should remain as it is.

Pure logic, of course, has never been the overriding impetus for the formulation of attitudes in Northern Ireland. The peace process could still fail through what might punningly be described as the clashing of symbols.

The writer is an Emeritus Fellow of Wolfson College, Cambridge.

BILL KIRKMAN

E-mail him at wpk1000@cam.ac.uk

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