Press Releases - 2002

24 January 2002

Chief Constable's Statement - Omagh

The Police Federation for Northern Ireland today declared its full support for the Chief Constable, Sir Ronnie Flanagan.

Federation Chairman, Jimmy Spratt, today said: "We are more than satisfied that the Chief Constable has strongly rebutted the criticisms of the Police Ombudsman's Report and that any objective assessment of his statement would confirm that the Police Service has conducted its investigations of the Omagh atrocity with conscientiousness and skill. Where there have been shortcomings it has been PSNI which has identified these and moved to address them. The Chief Constable's statement also vindicates the excellent work of Special Branch, whose specialist role has clearly not been understood by the Ombudsman.

"Our view remains that even if others may continue to dispute the contents of both Reports, there is no escaping the conclusion that the Police Ombudsman has singularly failed to conduct her inquiry with sufficient professionalism and competence to guarantee the future confidence of our members in her office.

"It remains unacceptable that the Ombudsman's Office failed to allow the police officers to co-operate with her investigation. She should have awaited the input of the Chief Constable's response to her queries. The net result of her conduct of her own investigation has served only to intensify enormously the anxiety of the victims' families and police officers."