Mr Chris Patten, chairman of the Commission on Policing in Northern Ireland, has responded in colourful - some might think, shrill - terms to yesterday's report in this newspaper that significant changes are in the Commission's contemplation for the Royal Ulster Constabulary. It was a "fabrication", he declared, "a total fiction". The Irish Times had been sold, not just a pup, but "a rather rabid old alsatian".
Time will tell whether the sort of measures referred to in yesterday's report do, in fact, make their way into the Patten Commission's recommendations when they are made public next year. In the meantime, Mr Patten stresses that the Commission is still in a consultative phase and will continue to hold its series of public meetings throughout Northern Ireland during the remaining months of this year.
But it is important to be clear what yesterday's report did and did not say. It did not claim that the Commission had reached any conclusions or that its deliberations were anywhere close to finality. It stated what this newspaper knows to be some of the preliminary positions which are under consideration within the Commission and which, it is aware, have led to specific lines of inquiry and examination. It stated that these had made their way into preliminary drafts. Mr Patten says there are no drafts. There is certainly paperwork - by whatever name.
Not surprisingly, neither Mr Patten nor the Northern Secretary, Dr Mowlam (who described the publication as "irresponsible") was willing to be drawn on the substance of the report. But it is tempting to ask - rhetorically - which, if any, of the initiatives indicated in the report they might consider unlikely or improbable if Northern Ireland is to have a police service which is broadly acceptable across the community. And here is the depth of the difficulty in which Mr Patten and his fellow-commissioners find themselves. Even cosmetic changes, such as emblems, badges and the force's name, which might be proposed to satisfy the nationalist lobby are likely to elicit vigorous counter-reactions from the unionist community. More substantial changes could lead to the sort of serious disorder described on Tuesday by the Chairman of Northern Ireland's Police Federation, Mr Les Rodgers.
It hardly takes a report in this newspaper to alert the unionist community to the possibilities which are under consideration by the Commission. Mr Rodgers himself adverted to his fears over the possible disbandment of the RUC before any such suggestion was raised in these columns. Anyone who gives the subject a moment's consideration will realise that peacetime policing in Northern Ireland must provide for the proportionate intake of members from both communities. Provision must be made for both inward and outward movement of personnel in a new order and some trigger mechanism, with suitable guarantees and compensations, must be devised for this. Other issues, such as the name of the force, its emblems and so on are essentially liturgical.
Mr Patten may not feel that his task is made easier by detail of this kind coming into the public domain. But it is a newspaper's over-riding responsibility to inform its readers on important issues once it is satisfied that its information is correct and that its sources are reliable. In this instance both of these conditions were met and The Irish Times stands over yesterday's report. It may be that a healthier climate will be created by teasing out in public the sort of possibilities which are under discussion within the Commission. The debate will gather over coming months - both among Mr Patten and his colleagues and among the general public.