SINN Féin is calling for the reinstatement of 50:50 recruitment to the PSNI
It comes after the latest PSNI recruitment campaign attracted the lowest percentage of Catholic applicants for more than a decade. New figures released by the organisation show more than 4,100 people applied to join the PSNI. However, just over a quarter (27 per cent) are from a Catholic background.
The figure of 27 per cent is two percentage points down on the 2025 recruitment drive and the lowest since at least 2013.
The latest campaign ran for three weeks and closed earlier this month.
A 50-50 recruitment policy was in place between 2001 and 2011.
South Belfast MLA Deirdre Hargey met with the PSNI Chief Constable Jon Boutcher along with party colleague and First Minister Michelle O’Neill and Gerry Kelly MLA on Monday.
Speaking afterwards, Ms Hargey said: “For the PSNI to succeed in delivering a modern and representative policing service, it must be as diverse as the community it serves and command maximum public confidence.
“Currently, it is evident the police are failing to meet this threshold.
“The PSNI need to listen to people from a Catholic, nationalist and republican background, and all other underrepresented groups, to identify the barriers preventing them from joining.
“The political decision to withdraw 50:50 recruitment has had a hugely negative impact on recruiting and retaining officers from a Catholic or nationalist background.
“That is why 50:50 recruitment should be reinstated, to bring about representativeness."
