The controversial recruitment drive for the new Northern police force begins today with a £750,000 advertising campaign to attract 240 officers.
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RUC members
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It goes ahead despite the SDLP and Sinn Féin's refusal to endorse the service.
The new Police Service of Northern Ireland initiated an unprecedented attempt to draw an equal number of Protestants and Catholics to its ranks to eliminate the RUC's religion imbalance.
The campaign to find the next generation of law enforcement officers will be active throughout Ireland and Britain.
London, Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester, Glasgow and Edinburgh as well as areas along the Border are being targeted in a £750,000 sterling media campaign.
The first television advertisements will be broadcast at prime time viewing in Northern Ireland tonight.
The RUC chief constable Sir Ronnie Flanagan said this morning he hoped nationalists and republicans would eventually pledge their support to the new force.
"I would have dearly loved to be launching this campaign in the face of full endorsement, full support, full encouragement from all sections of our community," he said.
"That at the moment isn't forthcoming, I'm confident in time it will be forthcoming, but really I need numbers of people on the streets, therefore I simply cannot wait any longer."
Mr Philip Heaton who heads the body responsible for finding the first contingent of 240 officers to begin training next September (when the Police Service of Northern Ireland officially comes into force) pledged a fair and transparent process to sign up the recruits.
The RUC is 92 per cent Protestant and the new service aims to attract thousands more Catholics to reflect Northern religious divisions.
In Belfast, London and Dublin the British and Irish Governments, Sinn Féin and the SDLP still strive for a formula to win nationalist political endorsement for the new force.
Sinn Féin president Mr Gerry Adams and the SDLP are resisting pressure from British Prime Minister Mr Tony Blair to accept the structures by signing up to the controlling Police Board. They say the reforms do not go far enough.
There is growing speculation a final session of talks will be convened in Belfast next week in a last-ditch attempt at agreement.
According to The Irish Timestoday sources in both Governments agreed yesterday such a meeting could end up discussing how to give a "soft landing" to the stalled talks after a protracted six-week series of bilateral meetings which failed to strike a deal.
Efforts to reach agreement will continue today with the Minister for Foreign Affairs Mr Cowen and the Northern Secretary Dr John Reid due to review yesterday's talks in Dublin by telephone.
Additional reporting PA