Requests for application forms to Northern Ireland's new police force are running at a daily total of 700, the RUC's Chief Constable said today.
Sir Ronnie Flanagan said 20,000 people have now sought information about joining the Police Service for Northern Ireland.
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The first 240 recruits are due to start training in September before beginning duties next spring.
The Chief Constable said he was confident the requirements for equal recruiting between Catholics and Protestants in the force would be met.
Mr Flanagan added with another week still to go before the closing date a suitably qualified pool to cover up to the end of next year would be achieved.
The main nationalist parties have yet to embrace the new service by electing members to the Policing Board.
Although Mr Flanagan insisted this was a matter for politicians, he struck an upbeat note about the chances of full endorsement.
"I certainly feel that in terms of the meetings I've had with the political parties, that their legitimate concerns can be addressed and I have every confidence that a deal, an arrangement, can be reached," he told BBC Radio Ulster.
But Sinn Fein accused the Chief Constable of being "economical with the truth" and cast doubt on his claims that equal Catholic recruitment to the force would be achieved.
The party's Assembly member for West Belfast, Mr Alex Maskey, claimed that with changes to the Policing Act. legislation for the new service still required that such a situation was still many years away.
"The reality is that applications to this force are not coming from nationalists or republicans," he said.
PA