ANNOUNCING the end of 50:50 recruitment to the PSNI a decade ago, then Secretary of State Owen Paterson reasoned that as Catholic representation had reached almost 30 per cent, the practice could no longer be justified.
It was probably not the first serious miscalculation by the Tory MP, and certainly not the last judging by his abrupt resignation over unrelated matters this week.
But as the PSNI has been marking 20 years since replacing the RUC as part of the outworkings of the Good Friday Agreement, the decision unfortunately casts a shadow over celebrations.
The 'new beginning' first announced by a commission led by Chris Patten in 1999 undoubtedly transformed both how policing was perceived and experienced on the ground.
As well as a new name, badge, oath and uniform, the revamped service was underpinned by robust oversight mechanisms and a human rights-based ethos that remains a model for policing around the world.
Where once officers were confined to armoured Land Rovers, they now cycle the streets of Belfast. Heavily-fortified stations have been closed or rebuilt and commanders are fully accountable to the public through their representatives.
But on the key aim of bringing about a more representative membership, the picture is more mixed.
With only around 8 per cent of RUC officers from a Catholic background, the Patten Report recommended that recruits be placed in a pool from which an equal number of Catholics and Protestants would be appointed each year.
Over the next decade this policy saw Catholic representation rise almost four-fold, at which time Mr Paterson deemed sufficient progress to have been made to allow composition to develop naturally.
However, 10 years on Catholics still make up only 32 per cent of the service's 7,000 officers and the glacial rate of growth now threatens to go into reverse.
For every new Catholic officer recruited last year, there were three from a Protestant background.
An undoubted factor is the dissident republican threat, having claimed the lives of Stephen Carroll in 2009 and young Catholic recruit Ronan Kerr two years later.
It is a sad reality that many joining the organisation feel unable to safely remain in their own communities.
While leaders in the Catholic and nationalist community can help encourage young people to consider a policing career, direct intervention is now required.
Two decades after the optimism that surrounded the birth of the PSNI, it is time to revisit the Patten Report and ensure that the vision of a truly representative service is realised.
