Members of the public who have come forward to serve on our new policing bodies have made an immense contribution towards the cause of progress in Northern Ireland.
The main policing board and the district policing partnerships have had a positive impact in a range of different areas.
They have helped to bring a new era of openness and accountability to policing and deserve great credit for their actions.
It is appalling that representatives of both groups have been warned about their personal security after reportedly being targeted by dissident republicans.
To make matters even worse, it has been alleged that the confidentiality of medical records at the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast has been breached during an intelligence-gathering conspiracy.
These are issues of the utmost gravity, which are already the subject of a comprehensive police investigation.
However, in wider terms, it needs to be stated that the activities of dissident republicans are viewed with disgust by the vast majority of nationalists.
Their tactics have brought shame on their cause and are only capable of inflicting further misery on innocent people.
Members of the Policing Board and district policing partnerships are working diligently on behalf of all sections of society.
Dissident republicans, by contrast, are ignoring the clearly expressed will of all the people of Ireland.
By endorsing the Good Friday Agreement, voters rejected violence and supported a partnership in government between nationalists and unionists.
Policing reform is at the heart of this process and must not be undermined by a handful of extremists.
If our policing structures are given the chance to prove their worth, the benefits are enormous.
The alternative offered by dissident republicans involves nothing other than bloodshed and anarchy.
