He added that his party supported the merit principle in recruitment and found the controversial 50:50 policy for PSNI recruitment "offensive".

BBC: Public Sector Recruitment

The first minister said that the idea "has merit in principle" and that he would "look at the matter further".

BBC: First minister's questions

Merit is a fine principle.

ECONOMIST: A bitter row about executive pay is about something bigger

Once the principle of diversity as merit was established, all-male Yale and Princeton were hardly in a position to reject the demands of the feminist movement for co-education, which they implemented around 1970.

ECONOMIST: Ivy League universities

The basic principle of the system is to transfer teams between divisions based on merit -- in order to allow fluidity between the amateur leagues and the very top of the professional game.

CNN: Explainer: How relegation works

The great merit of his approach is its consistency: in both cases, he has put the principle of colour-blindness first.

ECONOMIST: Lexington: The colour of conservatism | The