The Hunt Report, or the Report of the Advisory Committee on Police in Northern Ireland, was produced by a committee headed by Baron Hunt in 1969. An investigation was performed into the perceived bias in policing in Northern Ireland against Catholics and other unprofessional practices. The Hunt Report was published on 10 October 1969 and placed emphasis on the fact that in the

Royal Ulster Constabulary The Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) was the police force in Northern Ireland from 1922 to 2001. It was founded on 1 June 1922 as a successor to the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) Richard Doherty, ''The Thin Green Line – The History of the ...

(RUC) Catholics represented only 11% and that there were no Catholic members of the

Ulster Special Constabulary The Ulster Special Constabulary (USC; commonly called the "B-Specials" or "B Men") was a quasi-military Military reserve, reserve special constable police force in what would later become Northern Ireland. It was set up in October 1920, short ...

(USC). The report proposed removing the military function from the RUC, the disbandment of the USC (widely referred to as the B Specials), and their replacement of their military function to a new locally-recruited part time force, which became the Ulster Defense Regiment (UDR). Most of the main proposals of the Hunt Report were implemented, and the B-Specials were disbanded in March 1970. The reaction from some in the Unionist community was aggressive. Constable Victor Arbuckle was shot and killed on the day after the publishing of the Hunt Report when the RUC attempted to disperse a crowd of Unionists that had gathered near the Catholic area of Unity Flats. Constable Arbuckle was the first RUC man killed in what became known as

The Troubles The Troubles () were an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted for about 30 years from the late 1960s to 1998. Also known internationally as the Northern Ireland conflict, it began in the late 1960s and is usually deemed t ...

. The killing of Constable Arbuckle was allegedly carried out by members of the Ulster loyalist paramilitary group the Ulster Volunteer Force. Critics would later state that the UDR displayed problems of bias and a difficulty with maintaining a balance of Catholic/Protestant membership, similar to its forerunners.

Motivation, scope and recommendations

Civil Rights groups in Northern Ireland in the 1960s had campaigned for the repeal of the Special Powers Act and the disbandment of the B-Specials. On 26 August 1969 Hunt was appointed to: Robert Mark was also a member of the committee. Hunt made 47 recommendations and 5 suggestions. These resulted in the reshaping of the

, the disbandment of the

, and the formation of the Ulster Defence Regiment.

References

Royal Ulster Constabulary Ulster Defence Regiment Government reports 1969 in Northern Ireland 1969 documents {{law-enforcement-stub