Catholic Police Officers in Northern Ireland - Facebook
Thinking Allowed
BBC
4.4 • 997 Ratings
🗓️ 13 April 2011
⏱️ 29 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In the wake of the murder of Ronan Kerr, a Catholic police officer in Omagh, Laurie talks to Dr Mary Gethins about her research into the Catholic police officers who have joined the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI). She conducted a survey of 300 serving officers followed by in depth interviews with 70 current, trainee and officers and explored the rewards for doing a job which can isolate people from their communities, expose them to prejudice from colleagues and always carries the risk of violence from dissident republicans. Community policing is an enduring problem for the force with some Catholic communities utterly rejecting the legitimacy of the police. Will the PSNI eventually becoming an integrated force, respected by Catholics and Protestants alike? Perhaps the strong reaction against the murder of Ronan Kerr will help establish the authority of the police force across Northern Irish society.
Also on Thinking Allowed, Facebook in Trinidad. Laurie talks to Danny Miller about his ethnographic study of Facebook users in the Caribbean island. He finds it can wreck your marriage, put your job in jeopardy but actually bolsters community and augments many of the positive aspects of modern life.
Producer: Charlie Taylor.
Transcript
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| 1:20.3 | Hello I'm not usually moved by public demonstrations of grief. Those who turn out to mourn the loss of a celebrity or a public figure so often seem to be responding to image rather than reality substituting sentiment for authentic sorrow. |
| 1:36.3 | But there are occasions when it seems as though a whole cross-section of people have been so |
| 1:40.6 | affected by a particular death that without prompting from press, |
| 1:43.7 | politicians or PR they take to the streets in a collective show of sadness and |
| 1:49.6 | solidarity. And such was the case last week at the funeral of Constable Ronan Kerr of the police service of Northern Ireland. |
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