McAleese clan leads the way in PSNI

I picked up a little testiness in some of the recent comments, and the idea of the Queen’s podcast becoming the Slugger testcard spurred me to blog! Mary McAleese was interviewed by RTE for a Christmas broadcast and interestingly mentioned that some of her ‘clan’ have joined the PSNI and have played Gaelic football with them. Liam Clarke picked up the story in the Sunday Times and quoted a presidential spokesperson that there ‘was nothing political in the presidents decision to refer to them. Indeed. Update: Article from Irish TimesI know that when I heard the interview it was the first thing that came into my mind, and it seemed like a very deliberate comment designed to bestow an imprimatur of sorts on joining the PSNI. I read something earlier today that indicated that 70 catholics have left the PSNI since the new recruiting measures were introduced. The main reasons cited were failure to meet the standards, pressure from family and in some cases as a result of a security warning following paramilitary threats. There’s a better breakdown of figures over at debate central.

Miss Fitz