Sinn Féin representative covertly attends his son's PSNI graduation

Sinn Féin politicians Michelle O'Neill and Gerry Kelly recently attended a Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) passing out ceremony. While they were not the first Sinn Féin politicians to attend such an event, they were the first from the party's leadership and the first to go public about it. However, in 2015, another former Sinn Féin politician secretly attended a PSNI passing out parade to support his son who was becoming a PSNI recruit. Only a few people know about this as he could not go public. The decision for the son of a Sinn Féin politician to join the police force was a brave one, considering the party's history and prior reluctance to cooperate with the police. Even though Sinn Féin had committed to supporting policing in 2007, little has changed for this father and son. They still cannot risk going public and have chosen to remain anonymous. The father reflects on the proud and emotional experience of seeing his son in a police uniform, but he couldn't share his happiness with anyone, including his wider family and friends. At the time, the chief constable of the PSNI, George Hamilton, interacted with the new recruits, unaware that the father was a Sinn Féin politician. When the father later revealed his political affiliation, Hamilton was surprised but expressed his satisfaction at seeing him there and sought his opinion on the parade's level of militarism. The father didn't have any issues with it, but Hamilton aimed to make it a neutral event. The attendance of O'Neill and Kelly at the recent graduation ceremony was praised by the chief constable, who hoped it would encourage more Catholic officers to join the PSNI. Presently, only 32% of the force is Catholic. However, while O'Neill and Kelly publicly supported the new recruits, the former party colleague mentioned earlier cannot openly praise his son who is a police officer due to ongoing threats from dissident republican paramilitaries. This remains the reality for Catholic families of police officers even 23 years after the establishment of the PSNI. The father believes that Sinn Féin's attendance at the ceremony aligns with the party's broader strategy but doesn't anticipate a significant impact on recruiting more Catholics. He believes the main barrier to recruitment is the threat from dissident republicans, which he doesn't see disappearing anytime soon. While Sinn Féin's approach to policing has warmed slightly, it still falls short of what is necessary to bring about meaningful change.