Northern Catholics 'still reluctant to join police force'

A unionist member of the North's Policing Board has said that Catholics from the six counties are still reluctant to join the new police force.

Ulster Unionist Fred Cobain said Catholics from south of the border are applying for jobs in the new force, masking the reluctance of northern Catholics to engage with the new policing arrangements.

More than 40% of those who signed up during the last recruitment drive were Catholics, but Mr Cobain said: "It's ludicrous that you have a large proportion of Catholics from outside the state joining.

"This process was about getting Catholics in Northern Ireland to play a role in policing here, rather then just filling numbers, but it seems to me that the Catholic community are not totally on board."