Madam, – Leo Armstrong (February 16th) offers a piece of misinformation when he states that in the 1960s “no Catholics were recruited, even if they wanted to go into the Northern Ireland police force”. This may or may not be so, but it certainly was not always the case.
When I was a border attending Portora Royal school, Enniskillen, every Sunday morning we attended St Macartin’s Cathedral for a mid morning service. As we walked down church street we were frequently overtaken by a detachment of recruits from the RUC depot. As we approached the Church of Ireland cathedral, those recruits attending turned left while those in the rear (possibly a half dozen or so would turn right into the Roman Catholic Church for Mass. This was normal Sunday practice in the 1940s.
During the war years, the head of the RUC in Co Fermanagh was a Chief Inspector Gorman, a Roman Catholic. Later one of his sons, John (now Sir John) returned from the British army and served as an officer in the RUC, he was a Roman Catholic.
Later, Sir Jamie Flanagan, a Roman Catholic became chief constable of the RUC.
When I was translated to the Diocese of Connor in the 1980s, the assistant chief constable of the police force was a Roman Catholic. During my Northern episcopate from time to time, I visited police stations not only in Belfast but also in towns and villages. Frequently I met constables who were Roman Catholics. I believe a good number of these would have been trained in the 1960s.
Many things were wrong in Northern Ireland in the 1960s but it is important to paint a true picture. We must be fair not only to the police force in general but especially to those Roman Catholics who served in it. – Yours, etc,