The RUC Chief Constable has stressed the hurt caused to his officers by yesterday's confirmation that the name of the RUC will change to the Police Service of Northern Ireland. Sir Ronnie Flanagan said no one should underestimate the pain caused, but he stressed that officers would pursue the transition with dignity even though there was no concrete evidence that larger numbers of Catholics would join the new force as a result of the name change.
"We are dedicated public servants, we will be hurt but as dedicated public servants we will do our very best to continue to provide the highest-quality policing service to all members of the public in Northern Ireland," he said.
Sir Ronnie yesterday ruled out his resignation as a response to the announcement and said the measures did not amount to the disbandment of his force.
A formal statement from the RUC said officers hoped the circumstances under which they served would now be permanently transformed and that they would "never again be picked out for murder because of the career they have chosen to follow".
In a message to members of the RUC, the Northern Secretary, Mr Mandelson, said he hoped the uncertainty was now over for officers and that he had successfully gone some way to meeting their previous concerns.
"This country owes the RUC a huge debt of gratitude and this government will never forget that," added Mr Mandelson.
However, the Police Federation for Northern Ireland, which has a membership of 13,000, expressed its bitter disappointment with the name change, and vowed to continue a campaign against the proposal.
The federation chairman, Mr Les Rodgers, described the alteration of the name as an act of appeasement that failed to command widespread support with the public.
"The focus of our campaign has already moved to Westminster with the delivery last week to Downing Street of a petition containing almost 400,000 signatures supporting the RUC. We will continue to challenge the name as unnecessary and ill-founded," added Mr Rodgers.
Meanwhile, the Northern Ireland Police Authority gave a broad welcome to the announcement in the House of Commons. The chairman of the authority, Mr Pat Armstrong, welcomed the enhanced powers for the new Policing Board containing elected politicians which will take over from the Police Authority.
Mr Armstrong stressed that his board had never agreed with proposals to change the name of the force, "but now the decision is made we must all move on."
"The onus is now on others to show that there is an equal gain - will community leaders and politicians in the nationalist community encourage young people to join the newly named police service, as Mr Patten and Mr Mandelson have asked them to?" added Mr Armstrong.