Today marks 25 years since the rebranding of the RUC. In a move said to be a foundation stone of public confidence in policing, the British government changed the name of its police force in the occupied six counties from the RUC (Royal Ulster Constabulary) to the PSNI (Police Service of Northern Ireland). Former republicans lauded this as a major stepping stone in the long road to peace and reconciliation, went back to their grassroots and, to quote Francie Molloy, ''sold them a pup'', for this monumental change was to be in name only.
As we have seen over the past 25 years the PSNI remains an unaccountable and corruptible police force, sectarian to its core. Collusion with loyalist paramilitaries is an ongoing facet, evidenced publicly on many occasions including in 2021 when the PSNI tipped off UVF-linked pubs on the Shankill Road about covid inspections, in 2024 with the handling of an East Belfast UVF show of strength. Most notable though was in June of this year when the PSNI seemingly stepped aside following engagement with loyalist commanders and allowed them to engage in a pogrom on non-white families across Belfast and further afield.
The deep-rooted sectarianism almost hidden within this force was exposed last year by a retired member. Due to his community background and name, he was ostracised within the force and faced daily sectarian abuse from all levels of the rank and file.
More harrowing were the revelations of how the body of a dead Belfast man was treated. This man's lifeless body was desecrated by at least two cops who moved him around the room, placing him in different positions before posing for selfies and videos. These were then distributed through social media to any number of PSNI members with at least one image calling the deceased man a "taig" (a sectarian, derogatory term for a Catholic or Nationalist), and another showing the man's genitals intentionally exposed. This was done in the victim's home after the PSNI told the man's father to leave the room. This shocking story further shatters the PSNI's image. These incidents expose the PSNI's institutional sectarianism and criminal behaviour, carried along from the RUC.
The Sovereignty Movement does not ignore the fact that society needs policing, but this policing needs to be legitimate and appropriate. While a portion of Ireland remains under the occupation of Britain, no police force here can ever be impartial because the core objective of that force is the protection of the British state's position.
The following passage is quoted from our document 'No Other Law - The Politics of Policing In Occupied Ireland' :
Policing cannot be detached from either relationship and dealt with independently because the relationships can only function on the basis of their interdependency. To validate any component part is to validate the totality of all the parts. Endorsing policing endorses the political power which enacts it, but it also endorses the judiciary and penal systems which operate in tandem with it. To argue politically that policing can be dealt with in isolation from the constitutional conflict is a fallacy promoted from a political point of view which has been outmanoeuvred. In historical terms the repealists have once again become the reformists.
When sovereignty is in dispute all aspects of policing are political. Civil policing is the most potent political scenario sought because it portrays the issue of sovereignty as being settled. For all the lamenting and political scaremongering about securocrats and British State interference in policing, normalising policing, and by extension the criminal justice system, is the position most cherished by the occupying power. As sovereignty is in dispute, all aspects of republican strategies must act as counterpoints to such British efforts. Republicans can only address policing in the context of addressing the dispute over sovereignty.
(32csm.org/policydocs/no-other-lawthe-politics-of-policing)
In the immortal words of General Liam Lynch, ‘We have declared for an Irish Republic and we cannot live under any other law’
RUC - PSNI
In 25 years what has changed?
