Northern Ireland's new police force will receive all resources needed to maintain law and order, John Reid pledged today.
The Northern Ireland Secretary promised to provide additional funding if needed after a leading police officer claimed the Royal Ulster Constabulary has been "robbed of its soul". Belfast Special Branch chief Bill Lowry also warned that the under-resourced force faced an uphill struggle against paramilitary organisations.
But pointing to an additional Stg£35 million which has been made available to help implement the Patten recommendations on policing, Dr Reid said: "We will not let questions of funding hold back this programme of change."
Detective Chief Superintendent Lowry, president of the Superintendents' Association of Northern Ireland, delivered a bleak assessment of the future for the province's new police force.
He said demands for inquiries into allegations of RUC misdemeanours centred on a determination to crush the force rather than find the truth.
At the association's annual meeting in Co Antrim attended by Dr Reid, Mr Lowry insisted that its members objected to only 2 per cent of proposals arising from former Hong Kong Governor Chris Patten's inquiry into future policing arrangements.
"Our membership consider that you have stolen our organisational soul," the Ulster Secretary was told.
Mr Lowry identified several issues he felt would plague the new Police Service of Northern Ireland when it replaces the RUC later this year, including:
- Growing dissident republican activity, loyalist violence and racketeering
- A likelihood that the marching season will erupt into violence
- Failure to de-politicise policing
- Police stations being closed too early in a bid to slash costs
- Cuts in personnel causing delays and reductions in service.
He also insisted the RUC full-time reserve must not be disbanded despite the political impact of such a move, given the cutbacks in the force's personnel.
Mr Lowry described plummeting morale among officers dealing with increased paramilitary threat.
"Simple observation indicates a deteriorating situation where dissident republicans grow in number and determination, where loyalist paramilitaries attack Catholics and each other," he said.
Hardcore loyalists had already exploited rising disillusionment with the peace process to launch a murder spree, said Mr Lowry.
"Against such a backdrop, hopes for a peaceful marching season must seem misplaced," he said.
Outlining deals which have been done to grant on-the-run paramilitary prisoners an amnesty, he cast doubt on what has been given in return by their supporters to advance the policing issue.
"We believe that the increasing calls for inquiries into historical events is not founded in any righteous intention of finding the truth, but with the aim of further undermining the police service and bringing about its liquidation," Mr Lowry said.
Dr Reid told the association that the vast bulk of the Stg£659 million policing grant for 2001-02 would be the responsibility of Chief Constable Sir Ronnie Flanagan.
He said: "I am committed to ensuring that you have all the resources necessary to continue to deliver a quality policing service to all the community in Northern Ireland."
He acknowledged the unique pressures facing police in Northern Ireland.
However, he insisted: "Compared with forces in the UK the money allocated for policing in Northern Ireland per head of population is also unique."
Dr Reid also outlined his determination to end speculation about phasing out the force's fulltime reserve.
"The non-renewal of contracts will begin when the first batch of new recruits complete their training early in 2002, and only if the prevailing security situation and policing requirements allow."
PA