The Royal Ulster Constabulary or the RUC, established in 1922, replaced the Royal Irish Constabulary as both a police and a military force.   The Irish Catholic population viewed theRUC as an extension of the Orange State, "Many  RUC officers also swear alliance to the Order" (http://www.iowc.org/oo/myths.html).;  thus, the police and military force, from the inception, was not a legitimate source of authority for a large segment of the population.  Instead the Irish Catholic population remained loyal to and dependent on the Irish Republican Army, the military extension of Sinn Fein, which had liberated Southern Ireland from British control, “the notion was that the IRA was going to rise up some day and free Ireland and get rid of the British...” (Taylor,  23)   Thus, attempts to recruit members from the Irish Catholic community failed miserably, and five out of six men were Protestant, with over half, former B-specials (McKay, 189).   In 1923, the crushing defeat of the I.R.A., and the call, by Irish Republican leasder, DeVelera, to dump all existing weapons  in 1923, temporarily left the Irish Catholic population without police or military protection; however, the ideology of the I.R.A., freedom from British rule and reunification with the South of Ireland, remained strongly intact.

       Thus, the dilemma remains.  One segment of the population refuses to accept the police force as a legitimate organization.  Discrimination, prejudice, and inaccessibility remain the fundamental issues cited by the Catholic population. Despite recent attempts to balance the police force with equal numbers of men and women from Catholic and Protestant backgrounds, many still view the RUC as unrepresentative of the population.  In 1998, 57% of the police force was made up of Protestant populations while  43% of the police force was made up of Catholic populations; however, the belief that there was too few Catholics in the force was disproportionate  with 81% of the Catholic population agreeing and only 54% of the Protestant community agreeing with the statement (http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/othelem/research/nisas/rep5c2.htm).   More interesting, when asked the reason for the lack of Catholic participation, 70% of the Catholic population cited fear of violence from the nationalist community, either against themselves or against their families while only 34% cited fear of discrimination within the RUC.

      One way, in which to legitimize the RUC, is to address the name and crest of the RUC.  The Patten Commission, released 1999, recommends these symbols be redesigned, in order, to address the perception of the RUC as a British force, responsible to the British people (http://www.belfast.org.uk/report.htm).  This would, in effect, alleviate the notion that the RUC is Protestant police force and the I.R.A. is the Catholic police force.  Recommendations included changing the name of the Royal Ulster Constabulary to the Northern Irish Police Service, changing the crest of the police force to exclude any British symbols, including the Queen’s crown, and, finally, changing the Union flag (flown over the police force headquarters) to the Northern Irish Police Service flag (http://www.belfast.org.uk/report.htm).  Although concessions were made to the Irish Catholic segment of the population, The Patten report denied some of the requests, such as the changing of the police colors and uniforms, maintained the memorials of past RUC officers and constabularies.

      It is important that the British Protestant is not excluded in this process.   “The RUC, through its membership and through its symbolism, also reflects core unionist values of the preservation of the existing order, respect for monarchy and the British system of government” (http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/events/peace/rucpp.htm). When the Patten report was released, Ulster Unionist leader David Trimble stated that the RUC would be "emasculated" (McKay, 48).  If the Protestant community believes that its needs are not being met, then, the community will look elsewhere to meet those needs. Protestant paramilitary groups, such as the UDA and the UVF, would thrust themselves forward as legitimate defenders of the Protestant people. Paramilitary groups, known for their violent methods, could threaten the fragile peace circulating in Northern Ireland.