In the late 1970s, a young, convent-educated, Catholic woman from a Border area in Northern Ireland defied the advice of family and friends and joined the RUC.

After passing out from the training centre at Enniskillen, she served in various troubled parts of the North, working in fortified stations, patrolling in body armour, travelling in armoured vehicles, braving the constant threat of death or injury in a terrorist attack on and off duty.

She has since earned promotion several times and runs a busy station in a country town where, despite the peace process, tension is high and community divisions run deep.

By the standards of her colleagues in the RUC, where over 800 individual awards have been made for gallantry since 1969, this is a typical and unremarkable profile.

But by any conventional yardstick, it is a remarkable acceptance of personal and family danger and one of the many collective acts of unsung personal courage and dedication to duty that last week resulted in the award of the George Cross to the entire RUC - its 13,000 present and estimated 11,500 former members.

Northern Ireland has long been classified by Interpol as one of the most dangerous places to be a police officer. In most countries, they suffer death and injury in the course of their duty only when pursuing lawbreakers. In Northern Ireland, RUC members are at risk even when off duty.

Republican and loyalist extremists both regard the act of putting on the distinctive rifle-green uniform of the RUC, and its harp, crown and shamrock insignia, as a capital offence.

Since the Troubles began in 1969, the RUC has paid a terrible price: 302 officers murdered; 70 driven by the stress of events to take their own lives; and another four the victims of what is ironically described as "friendly fire" from colleagues.

Many of the 9,000 officers who have been injured live with a legacy of handicap and suffering. One, wounded in an ambush in South Armagh in 1972, has been crippled by a serious back injury and constant pain ever since.

In many police stations, officers who have been handicapped or been injured continue to serve the RUC and the community, underlining the great sense of vocation and commitment that drives the RUC along.

Behind this terrible human toll lies a still largely untold story of RUC heroism and courage: officers selflessly risking their own lives to rescue people from bomb scenes or working undercover to unmask the ruthless gunmen and bombers holding the community to ransom.

There has been little respite for police families. Since 1986, 540 of them have been attacked in their homes or driven out by threats, gunfire and arson attacks. Wives and children have had to share the constant risk and participate in the security rituals designed to help protect them.

Uniform shirts, for instance, could not be dried on the garden clothes-line in some areas because that would give away the occupation of the family.

Catholics joining the RUC, who make up just seven per cent of its 13,000-strong ranks, suffered a particularly difficult time. They routinely have had to sever all links with friends and family in the face of terrorist intimidation and the threat of murder. No wonder Sir John Hermon, a former chief constable, once described the RUC as "extraordinary men and women doing an extraordinary job".

Indeed, their bravery and sacrifice have been of epic proportions, unequalled in war or peace by any military regiment or other police force. Over the years, individual members of the RUC have been awarded: 16 George Medals, the highest award possible for outstanding courage in peacetime; 100 Queen's Gallantry Medals; 150 Queen's Commendations for brave conduct; 120 Queen's Police Medals; and 150 British Empire Medals.

Also, several hundred other officers have had their service to the force and the community recognised in Queen Elizabeth's New Year and Birthday honours' lists and other award schemes.

Now, acknowledging its collective sacrifice and courage, the RUC joins the island of Malta in the rare distinction of being awarded the George Cross for its bravery under sustained duress. At the height of the second World War, between 1940 and 1942, the island endured heavy bombing, an ordeal recognised by the award of the Cross, created by King George VI to reward conspicuous civilian gallantry.

The dedicated officers of the RUC have been given this same outstanding recognition for doing their professional best to hold the ring in a deeply divided society. This has been crucial in giving politicians the space to carve out a political settlement.

Whatever the outcome of the acrimonious debate about the RUC's future, arising from the Patten Commission report, and whether or not its name and insignia eventually change as a result, the bravery and achievements of the RUC, GC, during 30 years of violence will not easily be forgotten.

Indeed, it will long be an example and inspiration for courageous young men and women, in Northern Ireland and elsewhere, who want, like that brave, young, Catholic woman who is now a senior RUC officer, to serve their communities by serving in the police.

Chris Ryder, a journalist and former member of the Police Authority of Northern Ireland, is author of The RUC: A Force Under Fire, which is being republished by Arrow Books on January 6th.