Sinn Féin is again under pressure today to join policing boards. As a major campaign began to recruit independent members to the district policing partnerships (DPPs), Mr Denis Bradley, vice-chairman of the main policing body sounded a cautiously optimistic note over the issue.
Mr Bradley, indicated negotiations over implementing the Patten blueprint for overhauling the force at all-party talks at Weston Park last year should have allayed republican concerns.
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He said: "There's no political reason in the world, if Weston Park is what it is claimed to be ... why Sinn Féin should not be on this board in a short period of time.
"I think the heat to some degree has gone out of the debate and we are beginning to see light."
Apart from locally-elected representatives, up to nine other people will sit on each of the 29 consultative bodies designed to hold district police commanders to account.
Policing board chairman Professor Desmond Rea said: "By applying to join, people will be sending a clear message that they want a safer society, and are prepared to do something about it."
Sinn Féin is the only political party which has refused to sign up to the policing arrangements, and take its two seats on the main board.
With the exception of Belfast, which will have four, each of the 25 other district council areas will have its own policing partnership boards.
They will operate as sub-committees of the councils, advising on policing priorities and holding to account police commanders in their areas.
The closing date for applications to the DPPs is October 14th, with the bodies expected to be up and running by early next year.
Under current legislation, anyone jailed for serious crimes is ineligible to apply as an independent member.
So far Sinn Féin councillors have voiced total opposition to joining the DPPs.
And the party's policing spokesman, the North Belfast Assemblyman Mr Gerry Kelly, claimed the Government's Police Act has robbed the public of powers to hold the police fully to account.
He added: "Ex-POWs are disqualified from being independent members of the DPPs despite the fact that Patten recommended that no barrier should be erected to the participation of nationalists and republicans."
A major promotional campaign to find the independent members is to start next week.
Northern Ireland's new chief constable, Mr Hugh Orde, gave his full backing for the DPPs, but insisted his officers needed help to police local districts effectively.
"This must be a two-way street," he said. "Communities have their rights but they also have their responsibilities."
PA