ROYAL ULSTER CONSTABULARY GC

Early day motion 304, tabled 20 January 2000 by Martin Smyth (UUP). Signed by 17 members.

That this House salutes the professionalism of the Royal Ulster Constabulary, its dead, its wounded and their relatives; recognises its consistent efforts to achieve progressive changes, including the installation of better IT equipment and the establishment of a police college - withheld by successive governments because of financial constraints; welcomes the positive steps which the RUC has put into human relationship and community awareness training; regrets that neither the Patten Commission nor the Government has addressed the problem of Republican/Nationalist unwillingness to recognise Northern Ireland's place in the United Kingdom; notes that Sinn Fein continues to campaign against the RUC and its attempts, through school visits, to encourage members of the Roman Catholic community to seek a career in the RUC; rejects the politicisation of the RUC through the proposed Police Board; and repudiates the slur cast upon the good name of the Royal Ulster Constabulary GC by its proposed replacement with the Police Service of Northern Ireland.

Signatures by party: Conservative 11, UUP 5, UKUP 1.