Sinn Féin First Minister O'Neill hopes PSNI graduation attendance will inspire diversity in force

Sinn Féin First Minister Michelle O’Neill said she hopes her presence at the PSNI graduation will inspire nationalists and those from other underrepresented backgrounds to join the force.

Stormont's first nationalist First Minister said her attendance at the "uplifting" event “fulfils” her commitment to be first minister for all.

DUP deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly said she wanted Northern Ireland to reach the point where political support for the police was not a “big news story”.

Michelle O’Neill said she hopes Sinn Féin's presence encourages young nationalists to join the force amidst recruitment challenges.

“We can all reflect, and the Chief Constable referred to this today, about the journey that policing has been on,” she said.

“I think we are in a much better place – we look at the last 26 years of the Good Friday Agreement and how society has transformed.

“That is also relevant to the policing community here. So I think that our policing service needs to reflect the diversity of society so I think there is a lot more to be done in terms of trying encouraging others to come forward.

“I hope my presence here today encourages young nationalists to come forward, but also women and people from minority backgrounds and members of the LGBTQ community, they need to be respected in the service because this is a community service to support people out there."

Justice Minister Naomi Long made clear the graduation ceremony was not about her or her Executive colleagues.

“Today is not actually about any of us,” she said.

“It is about the young officers, the young constables who have just graduated today, who have stepped into space that is a difficult one and a challenging one, and have done that on behalf of the community.

“It’s also about their families. Because joining the police service is something that comes with a degree of sacrifice, not just for the individual, but for the family as well, and we reflected on that during the ceremony.

“So I think it’s important that we focus on those young people."

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