PSNI chiefs demand resignation of O'Loan
Police Ombudsman Nuala O’Loan tonight faced demands for her resignation as a new row flared over her damning assessment of the Omagh bomb inquiry.
Furious police chiefs in Northern Ireland accused her of wrongly claiming victory after a legal bid to overturn the devastating report on the investigation into atrocity was dropped.
Police Federation chairman Irwin Montgomery said: “She ought to consider her position because of the way she has gone about her job.”
Mrs O’Loan’s scathing appraisal of the hunt for the Real IRA bombers who killed 29 people and two unborn twins in the August 1998 attack on the Co Tyrone town stands after both sides seemed to reach agreement at the High Court in Belfast on Thursday.
The Ombudsman conceded she should have given former Chief Constable Sir Ronnie Flanagan more time before she published her controversial findings in December 2001.
But she insisted: “The challenge has been withdrawn and I have been very concerned about the Omagh families over the past year, but they can now rest content that the report remains.”
The Police Association, which represents senior officers and rank and file members, was left incensed by her interpretation.
It had applied for a judicial review of her findings, claiming her report was grossly unfair.
Her scathing report on how police handled the investigation into Northern Ireland’s worst terrorist outrage left senior officers shocked and furious.
She claimed the inquiry had been hampered by “defective leadership, poor judgement and a lack of urgency“.
Sir Ronnie was also singled out for criticism, with the Ombudsman accusing him of “seriously flawed judgement“.
Her comments prompted the ex-Chief Constable to declare he would publicly commit suicide if her allegations were proved.
In the legal compromise it was agreed the litigation should be halted while the Ombudsman accepted senior Police Service of Northern Ireland officers should have been given more notice of the allegations against them.
More than the two weeks granted for a response before she published her findings should also have been allowed, she accepted.
But the bitter divisions erupted again today as angry officers insisted the court challenge had never been about whether the Ombudsman’s allegations were right.
Mr Montgomery, who also chairs the Police Association, said: “The issue at stake for the judicial review was the concern that natural justice had not been afforded to members at all levels because of the manner in which the Ombudsman went about compiling the Omagh report.
“Specifically in the settlement statement the Ombudsman conceded that with hindsight, certain PSNI members should have been given notice of the allegations against them and a better opportunity to respond.
“While the Ombudsman may have come to the same conclusion had she waited to receive all comments from the police, without these comments the report was incomplete and therefore flawed and of a lesser standard than could have been reasonably expected.
“Furthermore, in her defence she cited the urgency of the report as her excuse for the lack of academic rigour. Urgency should never take precedence over natural justice.”
