BY MICHELE CANNING SMITH AND ADRIAN MULLAN

As Tyrone republicans discuss policing prior to the special Ard Fhéis in Dublin on January 28, the UH asked active members of the party and the wider Republican movement what they thought. Some of the respondents were willing to be named; others said they would speak more openly if they could remain anonymous.

REPUBLICAN VETERAN

DEFINITELY very mixed feelings on the policing issue but I believe that members will go like "sheep to the slaughter" and follow the leadership regardless; it's par for the course.The very fact that there is a 26 counties representation at the Ard Fhéis will guarantee support for the PSNI. Republicans are more discontent on this issue than on any other.

I would say that Republicans are fighting a psychological battle with themselves on this issue, but it will get support.

MAIREAD KELLY

(Sister of IRA Vol. Patrick Kelly, killed by SAS at Loughgall, 1987)

THERE is no evidence that the police have been reformed since their involvement in the killing of my brother and I would not be happy with Sinn Féin endorsing them as they are.

That is only my personal opinion. I can only talk from my own experience and this is a shock for people. Throughout the years we've been told that there was to be no support for the RUC or PSNI because Patten (the reforms recommended by Commissioner Chris Patten) had not happened. Now there appears to have been a swing towards appeasement of unionists.

I think policing will cause a split within republicanism. There has been a lack of information available to people. We're hearing things second-hand from other sources. Many people I've spoken to have expressed a sense of hurt and betrayal.

It's my view that people who lost family members as volunteers should have been the priority. On a personal level, I would have to say that it seems to have been a complete turn on the spot. Not long ago, I and my sister had a meeting with the chief constable to try to find out what had happened to my brother. We were criticised by the republican extended family and we weren't even supporting the police.

I don't support the police and the push should be for all of the recommendation of Patten to be implemented. There are RUC men in the PSNI who have never been held accountable for their actions. I believe my brother did not die to support the RUC or PSNI.

EX-PRISONER 1

THIS is a traumatic prospect for many republicans, especially for those who were at the receiving end of state violence, and this is an issue that we don't relish.

People have very strong feelings on the issue, some think it's a good thing in that the cycle of Unionist policing of Nationalists has to be broken, whilst others just can't get their heads around this.

People are talking openly about it but many are withholding their judgement until the internal series of debate begins.

Obviously, those at the coalface have the strongest views but in the wider nationalist community there appears to be support for policing.

COMMUNITY ACTIVIST

I REALLY have not made my mind up on this. There is a real need for policing and it's my opinion that the Sinn Féin leadership will not sell us down the river.

I respect the opinions of people who have had relatives killed and feel they can't endorse this, but unless there is a credible alternative then I will support whatever is on the table.

I listened to debates over the weekend and I think what the North will see in the future is a multi-cultural police force, one without baggage – a police force where it doesn't matter what the address on your licence says and where everyone is equal.

I believe that is eventually where the future of policing will lie. But I won't be advocating that my son joins the PSNI.

BARRY McELDUFF MLA

THROUGHOUT my whole life I've had experience of bad policing. I, my friends, and my family have been treated with absolute contempt by the police. My position is that there has been a forthright debate as to the way forward, and the leadership of Sinn Féin take the view that this can strategically advance Irish republicanism and why should we concede power bases to unionism.

Everybody desires a proper police service. We have never had this. The concept is unique to the North of Ireland. Gerry Adams, Martin McGuinness, and the Sinn Féin leadership are talking about the future, they are risk takers. I have yet to come across any sterner critics of the state police in Northern Ireland than the Sinn Féin leadership.

I will never be a cheer-leader for state police in the North of Ireland.

I wouldn't over-state any threat emanating from the republican community... I don't think that there will be a split. But I would respect anyone's right not to support policing if they find this too tough.

EX-PRISONER 2

POLICING is an issue I just couldn't bring myself to agree with. It is one thing to tolerate policing but it another to endorse it, to do so would be for me to unendorse everything I have believed in. I feel regret and sadness that the process has brought us to this point. I supported the GFA as a reasonable compromise. Now I am questioning my analysis of the Agreement, I have begun to question everything.If Sinn Féin want to take this path, I will not be bad mouthing them but it is not the path that I will be following.

I have the utmost respect for the leadership who are there negotiating. They too have suffered. I have been in prison with some of them but I cannot endorse policing.

When I was 16, I was green SDLP and then the hunger strikes radicalised my thinking. Asking me to endorse policing is asking me to deradicalise myself, to wind back the clock. If I agreed to this, then it's the case that I should never have voted Sinn Féin, never have gone to prison and never opposed policing. It would mean that for the past 20 years that I have been wrong.

I believed in the policy of disbandment of the RUC, we didn't get that. Sinn Féin has not stuck to its original policy. In ten years there will be brinkmanship and nothing else. I believe there is a huge error of judgement in endorsing policing and endorsing British law and British policing, laws laid down in Westminster.

As Republican, I am not prepared to do that.

It's a step too far. We have disarmed our army, decommissioned and stood down and now we are supposed to pat the other guys on the back. I have spent the past month feeling strangled, embarrassed, and claustrophobic on this issue. I now have clarity of mind, for the first time I actually feel free. I have lost faith in the party, and I won't be voting for them at the next elections.

YOUNG REPUBLICAN

REPUBLICANS must be cautious on any move toward policing because of the involvement of MI5 in policing. They have always had a hand in policing; they always will. While some things were gained through negotiation, only time will tell the full story. I suppose it's back to that word 'delivery'.

The feeling on the ground is one of caution given the history of the RUC and the PSNI, but also, for the first time the power is there to go and have a say on policing. No matter what way you look at it, this is a huge step for republicans. There has been a void in policing and the Sinn Féin leadership are talking about taking steps to fill that void. The Sinn Féin leadership did its homework and estimated that the benefits of such a move will outweigh the negatives. Ultimately, the aim of Sinn Féin is a united Ireland.

Politics will prevail. I can't see a return to armed struggle. I don't believe that the Sinn Féin leadership is in any grave danger.