The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) is the police force that serves Northern Ireland in the United Kingdom. Founded in November 2001 to replace the infamously corrupt and discriminatory Royal Ulster Constabulary, the majority of PSNI officers were still Protestant Ulster Scots, but affirmative action laws led to Irish Catholics being admitted to the force. In January 2007, the republican Sinn Fein party accepted the PSNI as the law enforcement agency of Northern Ireland, removing the need for conflict.