Northern Ireland: Policing

The issue of policing has been a bone of contention in Northern Ireland since the state came into being in 1921.

The Royal Ulster Constabulary and its irregular counterparts in the B Specials were seen by many as the strong arm of the unionist government.

The Policing Board is the central body overseeing policing

When it came to negotiating a new framework for the governing of Northern Ireland in the 1990s policing was always going to be a hard nut to crack. Perhaps the hardest.

New policing service

The Good Friday Agreement of 1998 left it up to a commission headed by the former Governor of Hong Kong, Chris Patten, to come up with proposals for a new policing service.

Alongside the Police Service of Northern Ireland, which replaced the RUC, new controlling bodies were set up.

The Policing Board is the central body overseeing policing, while district policing partnerships are intended to allow local input to the policing process.

Rejected claims that the IRA was involved in the intimidation of DPP members.

Nationalist attitudes to the new policing arrangements have been highlighted this week with the intimidation of Catholic DPP members.

The incidents included the burning of a car at the home of a DPP member in Londonderry, a hoax bomb left outside the chairman of a DPP in County Tyrone, and a number of death threats.

Most of the incidents have been attributed to dissident republicans.

Whilst the SDLP has taken seats on the central Policing Board and the local district policing partnerships, Sinn Fein has not.

The party's Martin McGuinness has rejected claims that the IRA has been involved in the intimidation of DPP members.

He blamed dissident republican groups and called on them to disband.

The Politics Show

Jim Fitzpatrick on BBC One on Sunday at 1.30pm

The Politics Show from Northern Ireland this week asks whether recent events are a last ditch attempt by some in the republican movement to stir up opposition before Sinn Fein signs up to the new policing arrangements.

How do grassroots republicans feel about the new policing service, and will we see Sinn Fein members of the Policing Board in the near future?

The Secretary of State, Paul Murphy, is Jim Fitzpatrick's guest in the studio. Will he provide any clues about the possibility of an autumn assembly election?

Join the Politics Show with Jim Fitzpatrick on BBC One on Sunday at the later time of 1.30pm.

Send us your views on the reply form below.

---