PÁDRAIG COYLEon the reaction among the Northern police force's side to the attack on one of their number
ALONG THE narrow lanes and country roads that wind through the foothills of the Glens of Antrim the snow fell heavily last week, creating a peaceful, picture postcard winter landscape. But the beauty and tranquillity of this rural area, just 25 miles from Belfast, was shattered at 6.30am on Friday morning, when a bomb exploded beneath the moving car of Constable Peadar Heffron, leaving the 33-year-old police officer very seriously injured.
Later that morning there was some discussion on BBC Radio Ulster as to whether it had been relevant to describe Constable Heffron as a “Catholic police officer”. But the truth is his background renders him the kind of young man the PSNI is desperately keen to recruit – and the dissident republicans equally keen to wipe out.
A fluent Irish speaker and Gael, captain of the PSNI’s GAA team and a member of a family with Sinn Féin connections, it took courage and character for him to sign up 10 years ago. The findings of the Patten Commission on policing had led, in 2001, to the Royal Ulster Constabulary’s name being replaced by the more inclusive and neutral Police Service of Northern Ireland. The change marked a significant shift towards opening wide the doors of opportunity to young Catholics, who had long felt excluded and victimised and, therefore, disinclined to join its ranks.
“Patten envisaged officers coming from South Tyrone, South Armagh, or wherever, who would bring their culture with them – be it Gaelic games, hockey, soccer or rugby,” says Supt Gerry Murray, one of the founders of the PSNI’s GAA club. “Peadar is an iconic figure, identifiable in many of the young officers we now have.”
The club was formed eight years ago in the wake of the abolition of the GAA’s Rule 21, which had barred personnel in the North’s security forces from becoming members. Murray, a former hurler from the Ardoyne district of north Belfast, believes this latest terrorist incident was aimed at intimidating potential Catholic recruits.
“Peadar was a target first of all because he is a police officer,” he maintains. “And, yes, they probably identified him because his family, his life, his culture is threaded in an area where they were able to see a weakness. They saw an officer doing what he wanted, living and policing within the community and actually extending the hand to every community.”
Another club member, Insp Damian Tucker, takes a slightly more tangential view. “It does go through your mind but I wouldn’t like to credit these people with having a coherent strategy,” he says. “They can’t grasp that things have moved on and that we are in a different dispensation.”
Tucker believes the widespread support received by the Heffron family since Friday’s bombing is a measure of changing attitudes in Northern society towards the PSNI and its GAA club.
“What encourages us is the number of calls, cards and texts that the family and ourselves have been getting from everywhere,” he says.
“It’s being discussed, too, on various message boards and that tells us there is no support out there for these people (dissidents). ”
Apart from the GAA’s official condemnation of the attack, there is also a determination to speak out at grass roots level. Conor McSherry of St Brigid’s club in south Belfast received threats for helping to arrange a challenge game in which Heffron played.
Speaking to BBC Radio Ulster, he told listeners: “That was what the Good Friday Agreement was about. What I witnessed was a true Gael, who wanted to play the game the way it should be played. I’d have him on my team any day.”
Meanwhile, Tucker underlines that PSNI officers who play for their respective clubs, must be vigilant.
“We wouldn’t want to put clubs in the position where they might incur the wrath of certain people,” he says. “For us it’s all about the sport, interacting with the rest of the GAA family and just being normal.
“When I joined the RUC, the ban was in place. It wasn’t a big issue for me because I was never going to be a county player. But for the guys coming in now it is a consideration and it’s great that they don’t have to make the decision to leave their sport behind them, like I had to do.”
As the new season approaches, committee member Murray is expecting a healthy turnout at the forthcoming training sessions.
“The hurlers, footballers and camogs will be out there for Peadar, even if they’ve been working long shifts,” he believes. “We have a scheduled hurling match later in the month and we want to be ready for that.”
