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The Church and Government Committee of the Presbyterian Church has said that it is now time to get the new Policing Board in place and working, to get recruitment of new officers underway and for decisions about the new symbols to be taken as soon as possible.
In a strongly worded statement the Committee sees real danger in the cynicism, weariness and apathy that is developing given the endlessly unresolved issues of demilitarisation, policing and decommissioning and considers it a mistake to allow these issues to be linked and traded against one another.
The full text of the statement reads:
'The Policing Bill has been passed and is now law and until such times as the law is changed it ought to be worked and obeyed. The demoralisation within the police, the absenteeism and the loss of people in sensitive positions are causes for serious concern. It is time to get the new Policing Board in place and working. It is time to get recruitment of new officers underway and for the decisions about the new symbols to be taken as soon as possible.
'The danger lies in cynicism, weariness and apathy given the endlessly unresolved issues of demilitarisation, policing and decommissioning. It was a mistake to allow these three issues to be linked, for each one is important in its own right and needed to be dealt with separately. One cannot be traded against the other as if there is some kind of equivalence.
'The absence of consistent consolidation of the Executive leads to vacuums which are being filled with the scandalous behaviour of pipe bombers and paramilitary groups controlling specific areas. This is not only dangerous but unacceptable.'
The Moderator will be available for interview. Contact through Stephen Lynas.
Issued by Stephen Lynas, Presbyterian Information Services. Info@PresbyterianIreland.org
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