Statement by the Minister for Foreign Affairs,on change of name to the Police Service of Northern Ireland
16/10/2001
I very much welcome this evening's announcement by the Secretary of State that the name of the police will be changed to the Police Service of Northern Ireland with effect from 4 November next and that the Policing Board will begin its work on the same day.
These are significant and tangible steps forward which bring us markedly closer to the new beginning to policing promised by the Good Friday Agreement and set out in the Patten Report. The Policing Board will now take on the responsibility of realising that promise.
I also welcome the fact that the first recruits to the PSNI will begin their training on that date and I wish them well as they start out on their new careers.
