Only 1/4 of Northern Ireland’s police service are Catholic, despite Catholics now making up 50% of the population there.
The problem has been exacerbated in recent weeks by a data breach wherein the personal details of officers was leaked.
This serious breach has led to the organisation that represents the officers revealing that he has advised Catholic officers to carry their weapons with them to Mass, with 10,000 of them having their details shared through the leak.
Gerry Murray told the media:
I have incidents where young Catholic officers are asking me: do they carry their personal protection weapon when they go to Mass?
That has happened, and the advice I’ve given: yes, you do.
Because the idea is that they should feel safe while entering the Catholic Church and also leaving the Catholic Church, and there’s no better way, the issue of the personal protection weapon is for that, for personal protection.
