The Five Demands

Baggott offer to attend SF ard fheis (UTV)
The Chief Constable of Northern Ireland has said he would attend next year’s Sinn Fein ard fheis if invited.
Matt Baggott indicated his willingness to appear at the annual conference on 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 Baggot 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 unparalleled 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 Baggot told UTV.
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 Fein, sign up to support the police for the first time.
It has been ten years since the RUC was disbanded and two and a half years since Matt Baggot took the helm.
What was on his check list of “things to do”?
“Deeply personal policing in every community, welcome and accessible policing aimed at doing the things that matter”, he said.