Blue Lights Returns to BBC as PSNI Catholic Applications Fall — SkimNews
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- BBC's Blue Lights returns for series four at 21:00 BST on BBC One and iPlayer, continuing the Bafta-winning drama about officers at fictional Blackthorn Station in Belfast
- PSNI recorded its lowest Catholic applicant numbers in more than a decade earlier this year, despite Catholic representation in the force rising from 8% at its 2001 founding to 32% today
- Chief Constable Jon Boutcher blamed 'outdated and unsupported views of dissident paramilitaries' for blocking recruitment and announced a new student officer campaign 'in the coming weeks'
- Katherine Devlin plays Catholic officer Annie Conlon, whose family faces death threats because of her job, though Devlin admitted 'I wouldn't go into the police' herself
- Dearbháile McKinney consulted real PSNI officers about PTSD for her character Aisling Byrne, saying trauma 'they just have to learn to live with' is 'the reality here'
- Frank Blake, one of the few non-Northern Irish cast members, said a Westlife song scene earned him a warm Belfast welcome — with one fan later driving past filming blasting 'World of Our Own'
Why it matters: The PSNI's decade-low Catholic applicant pool collides with a hit TV drama depicting exactly that community hostility — Catholic officers rose from 8% in 2001 to 32% today, but Chief Constable Boutcher blames 'dissident paramilitaries' for blocking new recruitment, with a fresh campaign due in the coming weeks.
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