2000 Catholics apply for police service

Nearly 2,000 Catholics have applied to join the Police Service of Northern Ireland in its second round of recruitment.

The SDLP says the figures show that Catholics support the new service and that Sinn Féin has "missed the boat" - but Sinn Féin says the figures are down on the first recruitment round.

This recruitment phase began last October when nearly 5,000 people responded to advertisements to join the police. 38% of respondents were Catholic.

Applicants then go through a series of aptitude tests with successful candidates picked, on a 50/50 basis, from a merit pool from which trainees are selected.

The SDLP’s Alex Attwood says the figures are a resounding vote of confidence by Catholics in the new service and that Sinn Féin has badly misjudged its own electorate’s opinions.

Sinn Féin’s Alex Maskey, however, says that proportionally fewer Catholics applied this time round and that the British government has yet to produce a target date for a representative police force.