It would be remiss of me to not post on the departure of Nuala O'Loan from the post of Police Ombudsman. For the first time in the history of Northern Ireland, the police service was held to account upon her taking up her position. The job of Police Ombudsman left in the hands of a lesser person may have proved ineffective, but Nuala faced down personal insult and downright ignorance from unionist politicians and certain members of the PSNI to help bring us to a position now where people from all sides of the community feel that they can have at least some faith in the system.Let us hope that Al Hutchinson has even some of the balls of...
Nuala O'Loan's office has been cleared of allegations that it leaked information about its recent investigation into RUC/ UVF collusion and murder before details of the outcome were officially published. The report, made public earlier this year, revealed that there was collusion between RUC Special Branch officers and a north Belfast UVF gang which killed up to 16 people.Unsurprisingly it was the Retired Police Officers' Association for Northern Ireland who complained about this 'leak'. Unbelievable. Here we have an organisation that throws a fit at any suggestion that RUC activity should be investigated and brought into the light by people such as Nuala O'Loan, then turns around and complains about the possibility of the details of any such reports being released early. Good to see...
The Police Federation wants the government to spend millions to help those who suffered trauma and stress during the Troubles and remember the past.The Police Federation also wants to government to avoid spending millions to help those who suffered trauma and stress suring the Troubles and forget the past.The difference? One group looking help are ex-police personnel. These people have the support of the Police Federation.The other group looking help are the families of victims of ex-police personnel. These people do not have the support of the Police...
The rather irritating but nonetheless ubiquitous Retired Police Officers' Assocation has launched yet another attack on Nuala O'Loan's office, claiming that details about the investigation into Special Branch/ RUC collusion in north Belfast were leaked to the media.This same organisation also happened to reject the Police Ombudsman 's findings in that investigation.Now they've written to Hugh Orde alleging that staff working for Mrs. O'Loan leaked details to journalists, including the names of police officers under investigation, long before the findings were published. Apparently police are now at a preliminary stage of investigating the claims made by the RPA.Nuala O'Loan has rejected the allegations.Isn't it time that these has-beens took it on the chin and accepted the truth of what...
Here's a video featuring Alex Attwood speaking at a recent SDLP rally. During his address, he outlined how the SDLP held out for nothing short of a fully independent system for holding the police to account. Of course, the importance of such a demand has been proven many times over with the excellent work the Police Ombudsman has done in shining a light on the dark of the past.Apologies for the low quality of the clip- I was quite a distance back from the stage at the...
PSNI Chief Constable has sent a rant e-mail around his staff complaining that he didn't like what the SDLP and Sinn Féin had to say after the publication of Nuala O'Loan's collusion findings. Apparently he found it "unacceptable" that they went so far in their criticism of the police. Really? How exactly is it possible to "go too far" in one's criticism when one is faced with state murder?The SDLP, and hopefully Sinn Féin now too, have no problem with the rank-and-file officers of the current PSNI. The problem lies with those who handed carte blanche to terrorists to kill at will until the not-so-distant past. Orde himself accepted O'Loan's findings, so what exactly is his problem?It is quite clear that the way in which Special Branch was run equates to nothing short of downright...
I dreamt that Ian Paisley had been crowned 'King of Ulster' and Martin McGuinness was Prince Charming. Strangely enough Ian's son Ian had been sent out, by his father's church, to minister to the Aborigines in Australia.Life had been much the same over the years throughout the kingdom. Apart from Ballymurphy, not the townland outside Greyabbey but the estate in Belfast, where they had won the coveted title of 'Family Friendly Estate of the Year, 2009'. This had been solely due to major investment from all the worlds leading ice cream companies.Policing had changed too, ever since that historic day back in January 2007 . The Police Ombudsman's office had expanded rapidly. It was a common sight to see 'Police Ombudsman Road shows' at shopping centres, Police Ombudsman's karaoke nights,...