The mother of murdered PSNI constable Ronan Kerr has appealed for
Catholics not to be deterred from joining the Police Service of Northern
Ireland (PSNI).
Speaking on a BBC Spotlight programme during the week, Nuala
Kerr (pictured) said the bomb blast that killed her son, “wasn't a
random attack, but was specific for Ronan. They obviously knew where he
lived, they knew his car, and they had identified that he was a police
officer. Somebody obviously led them in that direction,” she said.
The 25-year-old Catholic constable was killed when a bomb exploded
under his car in Omagh, Co Tyrone, on April 2. A republican group,
thought to be made up of former Provisional IRA members opposed to Sinn
Fein's peaceful and democratic strategy in the North, claimed
responsibility for the attack.
Mrs Kerr told BBC Northern Ireland's Spotlight programme
that, when it came to policing in Northern Ireland, “People can't sit on
the fence anymore.”
She said, “They have to be more decisive and they
have to be more clear that they are not prepared to accept this kind of
behaviour in our society."
She would like to see the PSNI's 50/50 recruitment policy continue.
When it started 10 years ago in 2001, around 8% of police were Catholics
and by last year (2010) that had risen to just over 27%.
At the end of March this year, when almost 30% of officers were from a Catholic background, the policy was discontinued.