Sinn Féin attends PSNI graduation ceremony for first time

Michelle O'Neill met Jon Boutcher when she arrived at Garnerville

First Minister Michelle O'Neill has attended a PSNI graduation ceremony at Garnerville in east Belfast.

She shook hands with PSNI Chief Constable Jon Boutcher on arrival.

Earlier, Mr Boutcher described Ms O'Neill's attendance at the ceremony as "a hugely positive gesture". It was a first for Sinn Féin.

The party's policing board member Gerry Kelly also attended, as did Deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly of the DUP.

Speaking after the event, Ms O'Neill said she wished the new constables the "very best for their future career in policing".

"I said I would be a First Minister for all and that includes these new constables that have graduated today," she added.

"We are all on a journey and where we are now now in terms of the policing journey, it is the right juncture in which to be here."

Deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly called it "a key day".

She said: "We need to get to the point where it is not a big news story that Executive ministers support the police."

BBC News NI's crime and justice correspondent, Julian O'Neill, described the attendance of Sinn Féin as a "symbolic moment".

"There have been more significant days - like when Sinn Féin first endorsed policing in 2007- but this will be seen as a positive for politics and for policing," he said.

Deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly joined First Minister Michelle O'Neill at the ceremony

Mr Boutcher called it a great day and appealed to the politicians in Northern Ireland for more funding for the police.

Sinn Féin has in the past been accused of having a lukewarm approach in its support for the PSNI, the police service that was set up more than 20 years ago after reforms designed to make it more representative of the whole community.

But four years ago Michelle O'Neill and Gerry Kelly attended the launch of a PSNI poster recruitment campaign.

A number of years ago, Sinn Féin indicated it would begin attending ceremonies once reforms were implemented at the police training college.

An external report of its practices in 2016 was critical of its then "military-style" regime.

The format of passing out ceremonies has since changed and no longer involves recruits marching.

But since then Sinn Féin has turned down invitations to attend PSNI graduation ceremonies.

Alliance Party leader Naomi Long attended the graduation ceremony as justice minister on Friday.

She said she is "very pleased" Sinn Féin attended and added it is "probably long overdue, but certainly a good start in terms of showing commitment to policing and justice".

"I hope that the visuals of seeing someone who is a republican, who is First Minister, engaging openly with the police and confidently with the police would encourage other people from a nationalist background to consider coming forward and getting involved in policing," she told BBC Radio Ulster's Good Morning Ulster.

'Political football'

Mrs Long added that key to this was money being found so that "new recruitment campaigns can be successful and bring new people into the service".

However, Ulster Unionist policing board member Mike Nesbitt had criticised Mr Boutcher for his party leader Doug Beattie not being invited.

"By definition, that is not inclusive," he said, highlighting the other three Executive parties would be represented at the ceremony.

In response, Mr Boutcher said he wished "to make clear that I respect and work closely with all political parties in Northern Ireland".

"I have personally spoken to Doug Beattie, leader of the Ulster Unionist Party, for whom I have enormous respect," he added.

"With the restoration of the Assembly, now is the time to grasp the opportunity to work together, rather than have policing as a political football," he added.

"I am determined for the security and safety of the people in Northern Ireland, that such future events will have the officer numbers we need to keep Northern Ireland safe, rather than the small yet important number of officers attesting today."

Last week, Mr Boutcher said a recruitment drive was to be launched after numbers fell by about 1,000 in recent years due to budget pressures.

Ulster Unionist leader Doug Beattie was not invited to the PSNI graduation ceremony, prompting criticism from policing board member Mike Nesbitt

'Sign of encouragement'

Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) Policing Board member Trevor Clarke said on Friday he welcomed the fact that Sinn Féin had come to the table "at last, after over 20 years".

"But why it has taken so long, no-one understands," he told BBC News NI.

"The PSNI has suffered to try and get PSNI recruits from the Catholic community and given that Sinn Féin are the largest nationalist party, I suppose this may encourage some of those people to put their names forward to join it, but it has taken so long for them to give this outward sign of encouragement."

Michelle O'Neill and Gerry Kelly previously attended the launch of a PSNI recruitment drive

Liam Kelly of the Police Federation for Northern Ireland, said the attendance of Sinn Féin members would be "a little bit of history" and hoped it would become "the new normal".

PSNI Supt Gerry Murray, Catholic Police Guild of Northern Ireland chairman, said that a wholehearted endorsement of the police service "from all our politicians" was required and it was "symbolic and appropriate that we welcome our new first and deputy first ministers" to the ceremony.