Policing Loyalist and Republican Communities: understanding key issues for local communities

The topic of policing, security and justice has dominated the social and political environment in Northern Ireland since the first paramilitary ceasefires in 1994. Within the context of Northern Ireland’s history, one would be hard placed to think of a more emotive, controversial, and sensitive topic. It is an area that has divided opinion between Nationalist/Republican and Unionist/Loyalist communities for decades. However in recent years there have been a number of significant events that have impacted on policing including the signing of The Agreement in 1998, the publication of the Patten Report in 1999, the devolution of powers to the Stormont Assembly in 1999, the formation of the PSNI in 2001, the final decommissioning of Republican weapons in 2005, power sharing by Sinn Féin and the Democratic Unionist Party in 2007, and Sinn Féin endorsing the policing and criminal justice structures in 2008. These events have provided practical evidence of the distance Northern Ireland has travelled in the last decade. In the current political climate, debates are now dominated by the date for the devolution of policing and justice powers from Westminster to Stormont. This is viewed by large sections of the community as a key milestone that would provide further tangible evidence that Northern Ireland has progressed as a post-conflict society.