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Article: Can Sinn Fein make the leap and back policing? Chris Thornton examines the debate within republican circles
- Article from:
- Belfast Telegraph
- Article date:
- October 25, 2006
CopyrightCopyright 2006 Belfast Telegraph. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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It was another millennium when the policing debate began. Back in
1998, as the Patten Commission deliberated about what to do with the
RUC, Sinn Fein offices were handing out a short checklist that gave
some indication of republican requirements for "a new beginning" to
policing.The leaflet posed 10 questions about familiar republican
themes - Special Branch, Orange influence and Protestant domination
of the RUC - over a photograph of RUC officers batoning civil rights
marchers at Burntollet.The document wasn't an official party
production - it said it was made by"community organisations and human
rights activists" - but it had some form of republican approval. The
10 questions were even ...