Audio interview with Seamus Mallon, deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland, by the BBC on 12 October 2000. On 9 September 1999, the Independent Commission on Policing for Northern Ireland issued what became known as the Patten Report. This recommended, among other issues, renaming the RUC the Northern Ireland Police Service and removing most symbols of Britishness from the police service. In response to intransigence on this issue from the Ulster Unionist Party and the British government, Seamus Mallon is interviewed on the future of nationalist participation in policing in Northern Ireland. This interview forms part of the BBC Northern Ireland A State Apart online resource which documents thirty years of peace and violence in Northern Ireland from the Troubles to the Belfast Agreement/Good Friday Agreement.
Date of Release/Broadcast: 12 October 2000
Name of First Interviewee: Seamus Mallon
Role at time of Interview: Deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland and deputy leader of the SDLP
Interviewer: Unknown
Purpose: News, Research
Media: Audio
Copyright: BBC © 2012
Link: Listen to the interview
Programme/Book/Article: BBC Northern Ireland A State Apart
Time Period covered: 2000
Key Individuals: Seamus Mallon, David Trimble
Key Words: RUC, Belfast Agreement, Good Friday Agreement, Patten Report, nationalist, unionist, security, politicisation, SDLP, Northern Ireland Policing Board