Northern Ireland Secretary Mo Mowlam said she had decided to accept the move - recommended by the Commons Northern Ireland Affairs select committee - after consulting RUC Chief Constable Ronnie Flanagan.

Police officers in the province would be asked "initially on a voluntary basis" to register membership of the organisations privately with RUC management. They may also have to tell other bodies such as the Independent Commission for Police Complaints.

Mo Mowlam: "More rigorous system" of registration

Issuing the guidelines in a Commons written reply, Ms Mowlam said the government rejected "for now" the proposal that membership of the Freemasons, loyalist or Hibernian orders should prevent someone becoming a police officer.

But she told MPs there would be "a more rigorous system" of registration for new recruits.

Ms Mowlam said: "The question of a police service which can fairly represent all sections of the community in Northern Ireland is one of the main terms of reference of the Independent Commission on Policing and it would be peremptory to go further in advance of the commission's findings."

A working party will be set up to consider how to implement the new system.