White House to host PSNI recruits

Two members of the North's police force are due to attend this year's St Patrick's Day reception in the White House in a move that has been interpreted as endorsement of the PSNI by the Bush administration.

22-year-old Joanne Jenkins, from Belfast, and 23-year-old Tim Mairs, from Omagh, will be accompanied at the event by chief constable Hugh Orde.

The officers, one Catholic and the other Protestant, are recruits to the PSNI, the force which replaced the RUC following the signing of the Good Friday Agreement.