PSNI deny removal of references to Northern Ireland from social media pages ‘to appease republicans’

The change, which began some weeks ago, has seen a lot of old PSNI Facebook accounts for individual towns like Cookstown, Carrickfergus, or Newtownabbey disappear.

Instead they are replaced with pages covering larger districts (such as Mid Ulster or Mid and East Antrim) – and as part of this change the acronym ‘PSNI’ is vanishing from webpages, to be replaced simply with the word ‘Police’.

The upshot is that the new webpages often do not contain reference to Northern Ireland (except as it appears in small writing on the PSNI’s official crest).

Some disquiet has been voiced about the change both online and by TUV MLA Jim Allister, who has written to the chief constable about it.

One member of the public asked Police Mid Ulster: “Why drop NORTHERN IRELAND from the name of group ... are you not the Police Service of Northern Ireland?”

The reply he got was: “The name change is part of a social media strategy devised by the head of corporate communications.”

This is Ryan Feeney, who took up the post last April.

He had previously been a member of the Policing Board, as well as a PR man for Queen’s University Belfast. Prior to that he was “Head of Community Development, Strategy and Public Affairs for the Ulster GAA”.

Writing to the chief constable, Jim Allister said: “I am in receipt of a number of queries about changes to PSNI accounts on Facebook.

“Why is it that the PSNI have dropped the title Police Service of Northern Ireland and instead changed to, for example, Police Mid and East Antrim?

“I would be obliged if you could send me all information the PSNI hold in relation to the decision.”

It was put to the PSNI that many people will view the removal or playing down of the term ‘Northern Ireland’ as a move to appease republicans.

Chief Constable Simon Byrne said in a statement: “I completely reject the suggestion that the change of name on our social media sites was made as an appeasement to any section of the community in Northern Ireland.

“A refresh of our brand has always been one of my key ambitions – endorsed by the Command Team.”

He said that since his appointment he has also looked at “updating and modernising” uniform and vehicles.

“Our aim is quite simply a change to emphasise the word ‘police’ in our title, rather than the acronym PSNI,” he said.

“We are still the Police Service of Northern Ireland and this is set in law so there will be no change to the name of the service nor the service crest.

“We’re currently in the process of finalising a new five-year communications and engagement strategy along with a new set of brand guidelines which will be in place for autumn ... the new guidelines will include a greater focus on the word ‘police’ and we intend to use the shortened form of Police Service NI, rather than the acronym PSNI, as we move forward.

“The previous chair, vice chair and chief executive of the Northern Ireland Policing Board were briefed on the plans for the new brand guidelines and we are keen to present our proposals to the current board at the earliest opportunity.”

On a seperate note, some years earlier the News Letter had reported on concerns among some unionists that the suffix ‘.gov.uk’ was being dropped by a number of newly formed republican-dominated councils during rebranding of their websites.

Trevor Clarke, a DUP MLA who sits on the Policing Board, said the rebranding had been raised with him and that he had no strong objections, so long as the crest and official name ‘PSNI’ are not changing.

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this story on our website. While I have your attention, I also have an important request to make of you.

With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our advertisers - and consequently the revenue we receive - we are more reliant than ever on you taking out a digital subscription.

Subscribe to newsletter.co.uk and enjoy unlimited access to the best Northern Ireland and UK news and information online and on our app. With a digital subscription, you can read more than 5 articles, see fewer ads, enjoy faster load times, and get access to exclusive newsletters and content. Visit https://www.newsletter.co.uk/subscriptions now to sign up.

Our journalism costs money and we rely on advertising, print and digital revenues to help to support them. By supporting us, we are able to support you in providing trusted, fact-checked content for this website.