Increasing numbers from the Republic bidding to join Northern Ireland's new police service are masking Catholic reluctance to apply, it was claimed today.
As a third recruitment drive was launched it emerged that more than 40 per cent of those who entered in the last campaign were Catholics.
But Mr Fred Cobain, an Ulster Unionist member of the Policing Board, dismissed the figures, which also show around one in five applicants were from across the border. "It's ludicrous that you have a large proportion of Catholics from outside the state joining," he said.
"This process was about getting Catholics in Northern Ireland to play a role in policing here rather than just filling numbers. But it seems to me that the Catholic community are not totally on board".
New television adverts are being screened tonight as part of the latest drive to get applicants who can go forward to meet the 50-50 recruitment required under the Patten police reforms.
Despite Mr Cobain's fears, the Consensia Partnership which is overseeing the campaign insisted Catholic backing for the new police service was actually increasing. The first campaign in February last year resulted in 7,500 applicants, 35 per cent of whom where Catholic.
A second recruitment drive in October resulted in just over 4,700 applicants, including 1,200 re-submissions from those who had not succeeded first time round.
Mr Dennis Bradley, vice-chairman of the Policing Board, insisted the figures reinforced his view that young Catholics are being increasingly lured to the new service. "I find within the nationalist community a growing willingness to get involved in this process," he said.
"People see £18,000 or £19,000 salaries for a job they are qualified to do, which has dignity and is part of the new process. They may say ‘We will miss the boat if we don't join now’."
PA