Policing – Page 5 – Slugger O'Toole

Well done SDLP for coming out of Sinn Fein’s shadow over the National Crime Agency

Brian Walker on February 4, 2015, 8:36 pm

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With less than a hundred days to go before the general election, the SDLP are to be congratulated for breaking free of Sinn Fein me-too-ism to vote in favour of terms which permit the National Crime Agency to operate fully in Northern Ireland. A clap on the back too for David Ford for bringing long negotiations to a successful outcome . To the outsider admittedly not in full command of the details, the final local accountability arrangements seem little different from what was …

Is the arrival of Cameron and Kenny more than part of a tired old ritual?

Brian Walker on December 11, 2014, 11:21 am

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The credibility and effectiveness of the devolved institutions is on the line, writes David Cameron. Sinn Féin MP Conor Murphy warned if a deal isn’t done then the Northern Executive will “crash”. “The implications are that the Executive can’t continue to function. You go into a crash and you go back to an election and let the public decide how the issues are resolved, Peter Robinson said last week. SDLP negotiator Alban Maginness, reflecting some expectations of a limited deal, …

Sinn Fein continues to flout its own guidelines over disclosure of abuse…

The Firemen on November 4, 2014, 1:13 pm

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In an interview with Newstalk’s lunchtime show yesterday, Councillor Joe Reilly Sinn Féin’s National Child Protection Officer outlined the party’s guidelines on reporting child abuse: listen to ‘Did Gerry Adams breach Sinn Féin guidelines on reporting child abuse?’ on audioBoom Cllr. Reilly stated that in 2003 the party instigated a policy whereby members who were aware of instances of child abuse should report them to the party chair. The policy “evolved” in 2006 when any such reports should be submitted …

The Taoiseach: “I will ask them the question that the Deputy will not answer.”

Pete Baker on November 1, 2014, 7:54 pm

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There was a clear attempt at political revisionism this week, as the Sinn Féin president, Gerry Adams, TD, sought to, as Anthony McIntyre put it, “claw back lost ground” following an “unprecedented” Leaders’ questions in the Dáil on Wednesday 22 Oct – aided and abetted by interventions from the legal representative of four of those accused, and acquitted, in the Maíria Cahill case. [added in-line link] This is the position the Sinn Fein president attempted to end the week with “I further understand that Peter …

“Adams’s claim… is worthy of the most cynical bishop”

Pete Baker on October 21, 2014, 4:20 pm

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From today’s editorial in the Irish Times Adams’s claim that there was “absolutely no cover up by Sinn Féin at any level”, is worthy of the most cynical bishop. It appears to be based on the fact that the IRA came to accept that she had indeed been abused. But its response was not to assist in bringing the culprit to some external forum of justice, or to counsel and assist the victim, but to offer to shoot him. That …

In defence of… Gerry Adams

The Bog Man on October 21, 2014, 2:57 pm

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The rape of Maria Cahill was a horrific crime. This writer cannot even begin to think of the suffering and torment that she has endured because of the actions of a depraved individual. There is no sane person who doubts Cahill’s version of events. Sadly, this horrific event has been seized upon by Sinn Fein’s political opponents. It is clear from the words and action of politicians North and South that Maria Cahill comes second in their thoughts. Maria Cahill …

#OTRs: Police Ombudsman finds PSNI’s ‘Operation Rapid’ flawed…

Mick Fealty on October 21, 2014, 10:13 am

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The Police Ombudsman reports Dr Maguire has said that while it was not improper for a police service to review the circumstances in which it regards people as ‘wanted,’ the process used lacked clarity: “The Terms of Reference for the exercise is silent on how individuals were selected to be reviewed or the procedure by which the information from the review was to be communicated onwards to other parties. Nor could we find a satisfactory rationale as to why the …

UPDATED: Victim claims IRA and Sinn Fein members assigned to deal with her rape allegations internally

Mick Fealty on October 12, 2014, 8:11 pm

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And on Tuesday night Spotlight according to today’s Sunday Independent is on a controversial case of a young woman who makes specific allegations against a named member of the IRA. According to the report a case was prepared against the man concerned but he was acquitted when seemingly at the last minute no evidence was offered at his trial. We’ll have to watch the programme for the actual detail, but the matter is already a subject of some political controversy: Last year, after the jailing of Gerry Adams’ brother …

Theresa Villiers: “It is in the interests of everyone affected… that a way forward is found towards a local resolution.”

Pete Baker on October 7, 2014, 2:54 pm

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As the BBC’s Mark Devenport reports, the Northern Ireland Secretary of State, Theresa Villiers, has proposed that a panel of “experts” be appointed with the objective of mediating “an agreed accommodation between local people in respect of Loyal Order parades in the Twaddell and Ardoyne areas of north Belfast”. The official NIO statement includes the terms of reference, key principles, and the proposed structure of the panel and its timescale. Terms of reference In order to mediate an agreed accommodation between local …

Dealing with the past is – past

Brian Walker on October 1, 2014, 11:52 pm

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People may not have woken up to the fact that inquiries into Troubles cases have ground to a halt. This is said to be as a result of the financial pressures on the PSNI as disclosed by the Belfast Telegraph. The Historical Enquiries team has been wound up, the historical role of the Police Ombudsman which was once progressed with determination by Michael Maguire has ground to a halt and the chief coroner continues to fulminate impotently about delays. So much for the Haas …

“to protect the Policing Board’s integrity…”

Pete Baker on September 17, 2014, 5:20 pm

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In the absence of any further explanation from Sinn Féin for Caitríona Ruane’s dramatic flouncing off the NI Policing Board selection panel to recruit a new PSNI Deputy Chief Constable on Monday, her party colleague on the Board, Gerry Kelly, MLA, has attempted to defend her actions. “If the process is wrong and particularly if the belief [is] that it is compromised, then there is a duty on that person to raise that and that’s what Caitríona Ruane did and I stand by …

Sinn Féin: “In light of the need for absolute transparency in all public appointments and to protect the Policing Board’s integrity…”

Pete Baker on September 15, 2014, 8:25 pm

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Earlier today the Sinn Féin MLA, and member of the Northern Ireland Policing Board, Caitríona Ruane, suddenly announced that she was unilaterally withdrawing from the panel to recruit a new PSNI Deputy Chief Constable – claiming that she “[believed] that the process may have been compromised”. Here’s the statement from Sinn Féin Sinn Féin MLA and Policing Board member Caitríona Ruane has withdrawn from the panel to recruit a new PSNI deputy chief constable and called for a fresh recruitment process. The Policing Board member said; “I …

James Nesbitt (RUC) dies: An exemplary modernising cop in the chaos of 70s Belfast

Mick Fealty on August 28, 2014, 11:45 am

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James Nesbitt who was a Detective Inspector in the RUC’s C Division at Tennent Street Station in the heart of the Shankill from 1973 onwards has died. Nesbitt was and remains most famous for leading the team which effected the arrest of one of the most notorious gangs of sectarian killers in the early history of the Troubles, the Shankill Butchers. What gained them the notoriety was less the number as much as the way in which they dispatched their …

Intercept evidence could convict terrorists, says former SoS Murphy

Brian Walker on July 16, 2014, 6:48 pm

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As a curtain raiser to Lady Justice Heather Hallett’s review of OTRs’ “ administrative scheme” due out tomorrow (Thursday), the mild-mannered former Labour secretary of state Paul Murphy has told the separate inquiry into the affair by the Commons Northern Ireland Select Committee that more convictions might have been obtained if the rules of evidence were changed. “Now my own personal view, which I expressed when I was chair of the Intelligence and Security Committee (at Westminster), was it should …

Time for an urgent review of all Northern Ireland’s oversight bodies

Trevor Ringland on July 2, 2014, 7:21 am

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When the Police Ombudsman in Northern Ireland (PONI) recently accused the PSNI of refusing to provide his office with information relating to certain investigations, he acted on his interpretation of a set of facts. The police had their own, alternative interpretation, insisting that they have a legal responsibility for the care and management of all the information they hold, some of which is extremely sensitive. Although they gave careful consideration to every separate request from the Ombudsman, they were constrained …

Police win flag protest appeal

Pete Baker on July 1, 2014, 1:32 pm

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As the BBC reports, the Appeals Court has overturned a High Court ruling in April that the PSNI misdirected themselves in relation to policing the flag protests in Belfast – which “led to the situation in which the police facilitated illegal and sometimes violent parades with the effect of undermining the 1998 Act, in breach of their duties under section 32 of the Police (NI) Act 2000 and in breach of the applicant’s Article 8 rights.” From the BBC report …

The next Chief Constable… is George Hamilton

Pete Baker on May 29, 2014, 3:46 pm

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Meanwhile, back at the ranch… Having “unanimously” agreed to appoint Matt Baggott as PSNI Chief Constable in 2009 for his strong advocacy of “community-style policing”, the Northern Ireland Policing Board, or its party political members, might be said to be experiencing buyer’s regret. Alternatively, those same political parties have undermined the outgoing Chief Constable throughout his tenure by putting their own party political concerns ahead of the ‘greater good’ – by word, and by deed. [“ahem* – Ed]. ANYhoo… with Matt Baggott announcing his …

Robert Porter, a humane if luckless minister of home affairs

Brian Walker on May 28, 2014, 1:32 am

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Sir Robert Porter, known to all as “Beezer” who has died aged 90 gave the lie to the image of a jack booted Unionist minister at the beginning of the Troubles. He was indeed minister of home affairs in 1969 when demonstrations gave way to riot and finally to the events of August 1969 when the Army took over control of the streets after days of rioting in Derry and Belfast culminating in the burning of Bombay St. He was …

Compensation for inquest delays underlines the need for dealing with the past

Brian Walker on May 21, 2014, 12:13 pm

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Yesterday’s landmark compensation awards of £7500 each to the families of six men killed by the security forces means that the logjam of inquests is beginning to cost the state money – money the justice system says it hasn’t got and never will have, to pay for optimum legal accountability for the Troubles. As the Guardian reports: The high court in Belfast ruled on Tuesday that the damages were awarded due to the “frustration, distress and anxiety” suffered by the …

Sinn Féin: “What happened was done with British cabinet approval…”

Pete Baker on May 13, 2014, 6:22 pm

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A few days ago on Eamonn Maillie’s blog, Brian Rowan gravely informed us that, rather than the wild paranoid ramblings of a party desperate to distract attention from their threat to “review” their support for policing if the Sinn Féin president, Gerry Adams, was charged as a result of the investigation into the abduction, murder and secret burial of Jean McConville in 1972, Sinn Féin’s latest outburst is evidence that “we’re not out of the political woods just yet.” The …