Letter: Patten Report’s stripping of British symbols from the RUC was ruthless

I think it was Saturday, November 3, 2001 that I was driving past the Royal Ulster Constabulary headquarters at Knock. I was about to start a night shift elsewhere in Belfast so it was quite late on a dark and cold November night.

As I passed HQ, I noticed that the RUC GC crest was still proudly mounted in its prominent position. The next morning after finishing my shift and driving past HQ again in the opposite direction I soon noticed that the RUC GC crest was gone. Contractors had been engaged like a thief in the night to tear it down. It obviously couldn't wait until the following Monday morning such was the clamour to comply with the Patten Report.

The Patten Report made many recommendations with one whole section devoted to culture, ethos and symbols. Briefly, Section 17 recommended, and I summarise, that the Northern Ireland Police Service adopt a new badge and symbols which are entirely free from any association with either the British or Irish states, and that the Union Flag should no longer be flown from police buildings. In addition, employers are required under NI's fair employment legislation to create and sustain a neutral work place.

At that time an internal police directive was very quickly circulated from HQ. It was obvious that there was a deliberate drive to ruthlessly divest the police estate from any symbols remotely connected with the British state. As an example, the first to be removed were pictures of the late Queen Elizabeth and the late Duke of Edinburgh. All military plaques - quite often presented by a regiment as they completed a tour of duty - were removed. Although the official title of the PSNI incorporates the RUC GC, any reference to the Royal Ulster Constabulary was also gone.

Inspections followed by senior officers to ensure that, without question, everything and anything with a slightest hint of Britishness was removed. So much for ensuring a neutral working environment, this was more akin to a sterile environment with a cowardly atmosphere developing, almost denying the ultimate sacrifice made by the courageous men and women of the RUC GC. I think this last point was reinforced in the last few years by the attempt to relocate the RUC memorial at Strand Road and the unsympathetic reference to the RUC memorial in Crossmaglen in a report on local policing.

Unfortunately, no symbols associated with either the British or Irish state were to be tolerated and that included both the harp and the crown, particularly the RUC crest. Although the harp is considered as the heraldic symbol of Ireland, the presence of the harp and crown together were deeply cherished by all members of the RUC.

Other representations of Irish culture or Irish identity might include the Irish language - after all, the prominence of the Irish language has been enshrined into the Irish constitution. It enjoys constitutional status as the national and first official language of the Republic of Ireland. However, the current proposed Irish Language Act may present some difficulties for the PSNI.

As the PSNI has rigorously enforced a non-aligned, neutral working environment for over 20 years, as demanded by Patten, it is impossible to see how the service can protect its credibility without rejecting any attempts to foist Irish upon it. In addition, the Irish language is a fundamental element of the IRA green book (terrorist manual). With over 300 police officers ruthlessly murdered during a sectarian PIRA hate campaign, this is the last thing the collective police family needs to suffer and “choke down”.

Robert Davidson,

By email

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