Page "Royal Ulster Constabulary" Paragraph 30

The RUC did attract some Roman Catholic members.

These men were for the most part former members of the RIC, who came north from the Irish Republic after the Irish Free State was set up.

The bitterness of the fighting in the Anglo-Irish War precluded them from remaining in territory now controlled by their former enemies.

The percentage of Catholics in the RUC dropped as these men retired over time.

IRA attacks on Catholics who joined the RUC, and the perception that the police force was " a Protestant force for a Protestant people " meant that Catholic participation in the Royal Ulster Constabulary always remained disproportionally small in terms of the Catholic percentage of the overall Northern Irish population.

Notable exceptions include RUC Chief Constable Sir James Flanagan KBE ( Derry ), Deputy Chief Constable Michael McAtamney, Assistant Chief Constable Cathal Ramsey, Chief Superintendent Frank Lagan as well as RUC Superintendents Kevin Benedict Sheehy ( Glengormley ) and Brendan McGuigan.