Four former police officers have taken legal action against the Police Service of Northern Ireland for anti-Catholic discrimination. Source: CNA.
The PSNI is the third-largest police force in the United Kingdom. The cases come 23 years after the PSNI was established to create a new start for policing after years of controversies related to alleged discrimination.
The PSNI was established in 2001, following the Good Friday Agreement in 1998.
The agreement ended the decades-long violent conflict known as “The Troubles,” which led to the deaths of more than 3500 people, most of whom were civilians, and cemented sectarian divisions between Catholics and Protestants.
One of the police officers taking legal action spoke to the Belfast Telegraph on condition of anonymity.
“If I were talking to [a] new recruit, I would have to say, think long and hard about it; long and hard – especially if you’re a Roman Catholic officer, because there’s so much baggage,” he said.
The officer’s attorney, Kevin Winters, said: “This wasn’t an easy decision for [the officer] to make given the well-documented difficulties he experienced throughout his time in front-line policing. However, on balance, he feels compelled to take this case if nothing else than to put a marker down. He sees his case contributing to opening up the debate on residual sectarian attitudes which still, unfortunately, permeate the PSNI.”
Mr Winters pointed to four such cases before the courts. “Significantly, he’s not the only Catholic officer doing so. I can confirm this is the fourth such case we’ve been instructed in over the last nine months,” he said.
“The common thread running through each of the case details relates to embedded cultural sectarianism — some of which is at a low level but in other instances is quite significant. I have to state that in each case there’s an understandable hesitancy about venturing into legal action of this nature.“
In a statement, the Catholic Police Officer Guild of Northern Ireland said: “We are deeply concerned by his reports of internal sectarianism and the challenges faced by him as a Catholic in the PSNI.
PSNI Deputy Chief Constable Bobby Singleton said that what he had been told “is disgraceful and has no place whatsoever in the Police Service of Northern Ireland.”
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Northern Ireland’s police service faces anti-Catholic discrimination cases (By Patrick Passmoore, CNA)
