Proposed changes to policing in Northern Ireland will have little effect on the way the RUC is perceived by the majority of Catholics, according to a survey published today.
Reforms, including the renaming of the Royal Ulster Constabulary, will not in themselves encourage greater support from nationalists, the survey claims.
The independent survey, commissioned by the Police Authority for Northern Ireland as it submits its advice to the government at the end of the Patten report's consultation period, found 45 per cent of Catholics would support a renamed RUC more than the present force.
Proposals to enable district councils to levy up to 3p in £1 on rates to finance increased grassroots policing were also treated with scepticism by the majority of 1,200 people questioned in October. Significantly, Protestants and Catholics were opposed to the prospect of being charged for community policing that is ultimately controlled by police boards containing political representatives - 57 per cent were against with 31 per cent in favour.
Overall, the survey indicated that rather than changing "cosmetic" aspects of the service - like the name and crest - it was necessary to change attitudes among the Catholic community.
This applied especially on the issue of recruitment. Under plans submitted in the Patten report, an element of "positive discrimination" would be used to ensure a "50-50" recruitment policy. While 80 per cent of Catholics and 52 per cent of Protestants were in favour of this principle, the PANI recommended recruitment should be based on meritocratic rather than tokenist principles.
The chairman, Mr Pat Armstrong, warned the Northern Ireland Secretary, Mr Peter Mandelson: "We are fully committed to the need for a balanced police service which is representative of the whole community.
"But we are opposed on moral and practical grounds to a form of positive discrimination which would stand the principle of appointment on merit, as it is commonly understood, on its head and could lead to serious alienation in the Protestant community. We also feel it would place a burden on those Catholics joining under these arrangements who might perceive themselves as having to struggle against a `second best' label."