Couple of days ago Irish Independent devoted its attention to a massive number (about 1000) of applications to the Police Service of Northern Ireland by young Poles. It is well welcomed by PSNI and due to the fact that almost all Polish emigrants are catholics it would fit perfectly a PSNI 50 ?Äï 50 recruitment policy. Employ 1000 Polish officers would raise an overall percentage of Catholics in the service from 21 percent at present.
It is a good opportunity for many of Polish emigrants, and former policemen to be still in the service and to earn at least 4 times more than in Poland. The need to employ Poles to the police service is quite obvious due to growing number of our community in Northern Ireland (which is now estimated to be about 30 thousands). The same need exist in the Republic, but I am a little bit afraid about that idea in the Northern Ireland.
Due to the agreement there must be an equal number of protestants and catholics in the PSNI, but it is far to be done at present. There is many reasons of that, i.e. there is a problem with MI5 involvement in PSNI and I guess there can be still lack of confidence to the police among the catholic communities and their experiences with RUC. For the British and Northern Ireland authorities employment of huge number of Poles can be a solution. They can say that everything goes fine, due to the growing number of catholics in the service. But Poles are a foreign element, not linked to the problems, memories and sensitives of the local catholic communities. In my opinion they can’t be a good representatives of the Irish catholics in the North and they probably won’t be a regarded by them as let me say ?Äúour people?ÄÌ.
Apart of a real need to recruit Poles to PSNI, there is a danger of political involvement, and in my opinion Poles won’t be a good replacement for the Irish catholics in the service. I hope that the number of Poles employed will be appropriate to the size and needs of Polish community’ and won’t be treated by the NI authorities as part of the 50 ?Äï 50 recruitment policy.
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