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Matt Baggott pronto a partecipare ad Ard Fheis dello Sinn Fein

Baggott offers to attend SF Ard Fheis

PSNI Chief Constable Matt Baggott has said he would attend next year’s Sinn Féin Ard Fheis if invited.

Matt Baggott | PsniMr Baggott indicated his willingness to appear at the annual conference on what marked the 10th anniversary of the Police Service of Northern Ireland.

The PSNI was created in 2001 to replace the Royal Ulster Constabulary.

It was structured to a blueprint set out by former Hong Kong governor Lord Patten, which required radical changes from the old Troubles-era policing model.

Mr Baggott told UTV the police service has a “serious commitment” to providing the kind of policing that is expected in Northern Ireland.

“We are holding ourselves accountable. We have to prove by our day to day actions and every single encounter we’re calling a moment of truth. It’s a moment we can build confidence and build on that”, he said.

The London-born chief constable took over from Sir Hugh Orde in 2009.

Mr Baggott believes the transformation undergone by the PSNI in the last decade is unparallelled anywhere else in the world.

He stressed that many challenges lie ahead for the organisation – none more so than tackling the looming threat from dissident republicans.

“We have put tens of millions of pounds back into sadly dealing with the problem which shouldn’t be here in the first place.

“We have charged over 120 people with terrorism in the past 18 months. A significant uplift in our ability and capability. But these folk don’t seem to have a purpose other than to maim and kill”, Mr Baggott told UTV.

The chief constable now wants to develop “deeply personal policing in every community, welcome and accessible policing aimed at doing the things that matter”.

While the overall number of officers was dramatically cut, the proportion of Catholic policemen and women increased through the use of the controversial positive discrimination 50:50 recruitment tool.

An independent oversight body – the Northern Ireland Policing Board – was also established.

One of the most significant developments saw mainstream republicanism, in the shape of Sinn Féin, sign up to support the police for the first time.

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René Querin

Di professione grafico e web designer, sono appassionato di trekking e innamorato dell'Irlanda e della sua storia. Insieme ad Andrea Varacalli ho creato e gestisco Les Enfants Terribles.

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