Opinion

Nonsense to suggest religious count is answer to reflective police service

Much was made of Sinn Féin endorsing the PSNI recruitment campaign.  The PSNI has attempted to portray the campaign as a success by stating that it had attracted 6,961 applications, of which 2,158 had come from Catholic applicants.  This was an increase of 223 Catholic applicants from the last recruitment campaign but marked a less than one third of applications from Catholics.  The moderate percentage increase in Catholic applicants was also reflected in an increase of Protestant applicants. While there was a minor increase in applicants from the previous recruitment campaign, the PSNI failed to point out that there was a 10 per cent decrease in applicants from the 2017 campaign. The PSNI has attempted to portray this campaign as a success by the marginal increase in Catholic applicants and Mark Hamilton, deputy chief constable has indicated that the effects of threats from so-called dissidents had a negligible effect on recruitment.


No longer can the PSNI argue that Catholics are not applying to join the PSNI due to intimidation. Yet although Catholics/nationalists probably make up more than half the population of the six counties, less than one third of applicants come from that background. This is a fact that even Sinn Féin’s Gerry Kelly  has been forced to acknowledge.


How then does the PSNI explain why there is a continuing distrust by that community in seeing the PSNI as a career opportunity despite concerted efforts by Sinn Féin and the Catholic Church to present it as normal?

I think the explanation for this lies not only in the historical, political policing by the RUC/PSNI but also by the fact that the PSNI is, and as seen as, upholding the crown.  That is a fact and yet opinion polls would suggest that there is a growing disenchantment with British rule and more and more people leaning towards a united Ireland. In those circumstances many would not see the PSNI as a viable career choice.  Michelle O’Neill has suggested that she supports a police service that is reflective of society. The breakdown of Catholic/Protestant numbers has been the benchmark to measure this but it is a little more complex than that. Given the commitment to parity of esteem in the GFA it would be expected that the PSNI would reflect the competing political identities of the six counties but in the 2015 recruitment campaign, research shows that in equality monitoring only 3.5 per cent of applicants indicated that they came from a broadly nationalist background. Additionally applicants from a Catholic background tended to be concentrated in relatively few areas whereas Protestant applicants were spread more evenly. This makes a nonsense of Sinn Fein’s suggestion that a religious count is the answer to a reflective police service.

SEAN O’FIACH


Belfast BT11

Assembly’s help needed to maximise potential of manufacturing

Northern Ireland has a proud tradition of innovation but to maximise the potential of our manufacturing business community we need the support of the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Currently Northern Ireland businesses are spending £759.2million on research and development (R&D).

A total of £75m was paid out to businesses in Northern Ireland in R&D tax credits during 2017-18. While this has been an improvement on recent years, we are greatly concerned businesses are each missing out on potentially tens of thousands of pounds.

To put the level of claims into perspective, HMRC figures showed that companies here claimed just 1.7 per cent of the total funds paid out across the UK, representing just 2.7 per cent of all claims.

More needs to be done by the assembly to encourage businesses  to maximise their investment in R&D and support them as they make claims for R&D tax credits.

We are greatly encouraged by the executive’s ambition to drive Northern Ireland into the top four regions in the UK in terms of innovation by 2025. Now Stormont has been restored we want to see a clear strategic plan on how this is going to be delivered.

The Conservative Party pledged to increase the level of R&D tax credits from 12 per cent to 13 per cent for larger companies during their election campaign. Boris Johnson’s party also vowed to review the definition of research and development so areas such as cloud computing and data can be incentivised for SMEs.

It is vital the Northern Ireland Assembly holds the Conservative Party to their pre-election manifesto ahead of next week’s budget.

The industry is doing its best to raise the profile of the R&D tax credit initiative. The Momentum Group has published a White Paper setting out why it is right for companies to invest in R&D and how support is there in term of tax benefits.

Our industry needs our MLAs to champion the R&D tax credit initiative.


We need the assembly to launch a clear strategy on how it is going to drive Northern Ireland into the top four regions.


The ambition and skill is here in abundance, we need government help to make it a reality.

TOM VERNER


Managing director, Momentum Group, Belfast

Glossing over facts about Troubles

I agree wholeheartedly with your correspondent’s view on Trevor Ringland  (February 27). Trevor is a revisionist who sticks fairly rigidly to the establishment line that the security forces held the line between two warring, sectarian, savage tribes. The security forces were protagonists in the recent conflict we had here. He wants to gloss over that fact. The RUC killed Paddy Corey in Carrick Hill, Sammy Devenney in Derry, Sammy McLarnon in Ardoyne, Patrick Rooney in Divis and several others before the Provos ever fired a shot in anger. The working-class Catholic people of Belfast especially, were facing an organised sectarian onslaught from various arms of the state, both legal and illegal. Unionism and the security apparatus of the state here caused the outbreak of trouble in 1969. At that time nobody but they were killing civilians, blowing places up, burning people from their homes, attacking civil rights protesters, etc. And of course the underlying problem is partition and the division of this country. Until Mr Ringland and others like him acknowledge and accept that historical fact, he lacks any real credibility in the eyes of a very large swathe of the population here.

D ROBINSON


Belfast BT15

Behaviour of FF and FG is a disgrace

It is clear from the responses of Micheál Martin and Leo Varadkar to the Sinn Féin success in the General Election that neither of these gentlemen is serious about building a new Ireland. If they were serious they would, at least, be willing to talk to SF, the party with the most support on the island of Ireland and the party which is serious about creating a new Ireland of equals. Both FF and FG are playing a very negative and cynical game. They prefer to confront SF in the media about the past than talk to SF about the future. What happens in the south is of the utmost importance for the future of the north and the future of Ireland. Neither FF or FG seem to realise that. Their behaviour, at this critical time in our history, is a disgrace.

Fr JOE McVEIGH


Co Fermanagh

Health warning should be updated

Many years ago there was an advert on TV which went: “Coughs and sneezes spreads diseases. Catch your germs in a handkerchief.”


I think now would be a good time to have it updated and shown again.

TONY CARROLL


Newry, Co Down