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As part of its ongoing programme of meeting representatives of political parties and statutory bodies the Church and Government Committee of the Presbyterian Church today met with RUC Chief Constable Ronnie Flanagan, Labour MP, Tony Worthington, Shadow Northern Ireland Minister, and Mr Alan Elliott, Permanent Secretary to the Department of Health and Social Services. The meetings took place in Church House today, Friday 17th January beginning at 10.30am.
In his first visit to Church House as Chief Constable, Mr Flanagan briefly addressed the Church and Government Committee before taking questions on a range of policing matters in a meeting that lasted 1 1/2 hours.
The Moderator paid tribute to the professionalism of the RUC and passed to the Chief Constable the good wishes of the Presbyterian Church on his promotion. "We appreciated the opportunity for frank discussion with the Chief Constable about the peace and policing of the country at this critical time and his willingness to listen to the concerns of Presbyterians about the present situation expressed by the members of our committee. The effectiveness of a civil police force largely depends on the personal and professional qualities of its officers, together with the broad popular consent of the people it serves. The aim should be to protect the police and policing operations from party political exploitation and ideally the police should be seen as an agency for defence of citizens' rights rather than defenders of the State. We believe it vital to maintain a unified force with strong local community relationships."
Earlier in the day the main topic of discussion with Mr Worthington was the report published by the Labour Party on Policing in Northern Ireland. The Church and Government Committee itself produced suggestions on the future of policing which were agreed by the General Assembly in 1995 and a submission was made to the Police Authority during their period of consultation.
Recent announcements regarding the Health Service have caused much concern in the community about changes to medical provision and hospital facilities. The meeting with Mr Elliott was arranged to convey these feelings and to gain further understanding of the workings of the Health Service.
The Church and Government Committee is responsible for all matters concerning the Presbyterian Church with Government and political bodies. Its membership is made up of ministers and lay people in equal numbers representative of the Presbyterian Church throughout Ireland. Recently it has met with the representatives of the DUP, SDLP, Fianna Fail and the Orange Order to discuss matters of interest.
Its membership includes the Moderator, Dr Harry Allen, Clerk of Assembly, Rev Samuel Hutchinson, Dr Godfrey Brown and prominent Dublin businessman Mr George McCullagh.
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