It has emerged that an advertising campaign for police recruits in the North could start within days. Last week, the Chief Constable, Sir Ronnie Flanagan, warned that depleted RUC numbers meant that he could not hold off recruiting for much longer. With Nationalists still in disagreement Downing Street says that the British Prime Minister will meet the Ulster Unionists and the SDLP tomorrow.
The SDLP deputy leader and Deputy First Minister said that the structures had yet to be agreed and that the date for recruitment to the new force had been established for later in the year by the Secretary of State. Seamus Mallon did say, however, that he wished the best of luck to anyone who responded. First Minister David Trimble said that, with many officers leaving the present force, there was a need to keep up the numbers.
Mr Trimble describing the decision to advertise as essentially a policing matter. He added there had to be a policing structure that attracted support across the community, but he said that there came a time when hard decisions had to be made, decisions that would inevitably cause difficulties for some people.
The Sinn Féin leader has urged young Nationalists not to respond. Gerry Adams said that the adverts would send out entirely the wrong signals. Mr Adams earlier said that no progress is being made on the issue of policing in the North. Speaking after a meeting at Stormont last night with the Northern Secretary, John Reid, Gerry Adams said that it would be pointless for the British Prime Minister to visit Northern Ireland to intervene in the negotiations unless he was prepared to implement promises made in the Patten Report.
Mr Adams said that, if Mr Blair were to travel to the North to make a deal on the key issues such as policing, he would have to move a lot farther than a plane journey from London to Belfast. "He'd have to move back to what he committed himself to doing in May and what he's obliged to do under the Good Friday Agreement," said Mr Adams. David Trimble said earlier that the continuing uncertainty over the future of policing was undermining the effectiveness of the RUC.
