By Paul McElwee
ONE Strabane community activist has his own take on the 'Faith in Policing' initiative – it's a propaganda stunt by the PSNI, he says.
Paul Gallagher said he would have serious concerns if local clergy were to go out on patrol with the PSNI. He is adamant that the independence of the clergy will be muddied if they were to take up the offer of going on the beat with the PSNI.
"The clergy would lose their independence. Is it going to be the case where people who confess in a confessional box in a local Church to a local priest will then be afraid of being pinpointed on the street because a priest is on patrol with the PSNI."
When pressed as to whether this was a likely scenario Mr Gallagher added, "Will the presence of the clergy be used to convince vulnerable people to make confessions to the local police?
"Once the clergy loses its independence it will succumb to the institution and all the tools that go with it, including recruiting informers.
"The question has to be why are the PSNI doing this. What's behind this. Why? The clergy are not travelling around in ambulances and fire engines, what's the purpose of patrolling with the PSNI.
"It's not so long ago that the police force in Strabane would not allow local priests into a field where three young men were shot dead.
"As far as I am concerned this is nothing but propaganda by the PSNI and the using and abusing of the clergy within our community."
Fr Declan Boland, parish priest of the Church of the Immaculate Conception, welcomed the idea as a good one, but displayed caution.
"I am totally in favour of the initiative, it's working very well and we are enjoying a good rapport with the local police force."
Fr Boland then spoke of his concerns on the matter.
"It is essential though that we do not get side-tracked by the 'optional extras', with the key word being optional. The specifics are thus: The clergy initially got involved so we can maintain good relationships with the police and the local community. The idea of chaplains to the forces has been mooted and will be looked at. What we have looked at is that, if a member of the clergy wanted to go out on patrol with the police they could. This is as long as it is a one-off idea. I personally would do it again as a one off. It is not our remit to go out every night with the police on patrol. They wouldn't want it and neither would we. That is not why we were ordained. I do not understand what purpose would be served by doing this.
"What is being lost in this is the wonderful initiative that is taking place, and I am totally in favour with that. We look forward to getting involved in the local community and with the police. We need stable law and order in the town. Let not the good energy emanating from this initiative be lost. We need to have this put in perspective."
Fr Michael Doherty, parish priest of St Marys Church, re-iterated the stance of Fr Boland.
"Of the overall project idea I would be favourable. In the context with the new atmosphere of policing in the north, part of the idea is to have clergy of any faith is to have them available to them. This is the same way as any school or hospital would have a chaplain. The other part of the idea would see the clergy as being people who could be asked about the needs of the community regards policing and to make suggestions or criticisms of the interaction between them. They are also asking local community groups in the area to help with this."
Like Fr Boland, Fr Doherty would not endorse going 'out on the beat' as it were.
"There's no question, as far as I know, of anyone from this church going out on the beat with police. I think it's a phrase that the media have picked up on. What the idea was, if the clergy wanted to see what life was like through the various areas in Strabane on a Saturday night, they could go along in a squad car. It's not an idea that we would be in favour of in this church. It's only a very small part of the initiative.
"In my mind there is no question of priests being on patrol, doing traffic duty, or anything like that. The police do patrols, firemen attend fires, and ambulance men attend accidents. Everyone has their own role to play."
