PSNI Chief Constable Simon Byrne leaves the headquarters of the Northern Ireland Policing Board on Thursday evening
By Niall Glynn
BBC News NI
Simon Byrne has said he is not resigning following an unprecedented emergency meeting with the Northern Ireland Policing Board on Thursday.
Pressure has been mounting on the PSNI chief constable after a number of recent controversies.
He said an appeal against a ruling made on Tuesday is being considered.
The judge said they were disciplined to allay a threat that Sinn Féin could withdraw its support for policing, but Sinn Féin insisted that there was no such threat.
Speaking to press after the meeting – which lasted six hours – Mr Byrne said after “carefully reviewing the full judgement”, he had sought further advice.
“After consideration, the question of an appeal is now live,” he added. “Further public commentary around this matter is not appropriate at this stage.”
When asked if he still retained the confidence of the board, Mr Byrne said that query was a “matter for the policing board”.
Image source, Liam McBurney/PA
Deputy Chief Constable Mark Hamilton was also at the emergency meeting
Chair of the Northern Ireland Policing Board Deirdre Toner described Thursday’s meeting as “intensive”.
She said that, regarding the Troubles commemoration, on Belfast’s Ormeau Road in February 2021, Mr Byrne and PSNI Deputy Chief Constable Mark Hamilton had accounted for “the discussions, actions and decisions that were taken at that time”.
“It was important for the board to question and seek clarity on matters within [Tuesday’s High Court] judgement, given the legal and leadership responsibilities placed on the chief constable and deputy chief constable,” she said.
Ms Toner added that “it has become clear that there are now legal issues that the board needs to consider and receive advice on”.
Prior to Thursday’s meeting, unionist parties had described the chief constable’s position as untenable and said they had no confidence in him.
Mr Byrne arrived at the policing board’s headquarters in Belfast with Mr Hamilton at about 12:15 BST.
They faced questions in a closed-door meeting with the 19-person board, which oversees the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI).
It was the third special meeting the policing board has held within the space of a month.
It met a week ago to follow up on a major data breach, which saw the names of 10,000 officers and civilian staff mistakenly released as part of a response to a Freedom of Information request.
It was one of a number of data breaches involving information about staff.
Low morale within the service has been reported in recent months, with some staff saying they fear for their safety over the breaches.
The Police Federation for Northern Ireland, a union which represents rank-and file officers, has called an “extraordinary” meeting of its executive central committee next Wednesday to discuss the outcome of Tuesday’s judgement and concerns over the PSNI’s leadership.
The committee will then determine whether or not to hold a vote of confidence in Mr Byrne.
‘Political interference’
The policing board is made up of 10 political and nine independent members and holds the chief constable to account.
Sinn Féin won the most seats in last year’s Stormont elections, with the nationalist party beating the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) into second place for the first time and giving it the right to nominate Northern Ireland’s first minister.
As the largest nationalist and unionist parties in the mothballed power-sharing executive, which the DUP collapsed in February 2022 as part of its protest against Brexit trading agreements, each has three seats on the policing board.
A special session of the board can be called if seven members request it.
Image source, PA Media
Simon Byrne at a Policing Board meeting last week
The DUP’s lead representative on the board, Trevor Clarke, said he hoped Mr Byrne would offer his resignation to the board at Thursday’s meeting.
He said it was clear there had been political interference in relation to policing decisions.
“If Simon Byrne could read the room, he will know himself there’s no coming back from this,” Mr Clarke said.
The Ulster Unionist Party and Traditional Unionist Voice (TUV) both said they had no confidence in Mr Byrne to remain in the top job.
Alliance and the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) said they wanted to hear from Mr Byrne before taking a view on his future as chief constable.
Members of the press waited for more than six hours while Mr Byrne faced the board
On Thursday morning, SDLP leader Colum Eastwood said there was a serious problem with policing in Northern Ireland.
“We are very close to being at a point of no return if we don’t fix the recruitment and retention issue,” he told BBC News NI.
“The first way to resolve it is to bring 50:50 recruitment back and to deal with some of the cultural issues within the PSNI.”
He also said the operation of the policing board needed to be reviewed to improve its accountability.
‘Hard decision’
DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson said the recent court ruling had raised issues that go “to the heart of public confidence in our police service and in the senior leadership”.
He added: “I think the key issue for the Policing Board now is who is best placed to win back that confidence, because there’s no doubt there’s been a series now of situations and events that have harmed public confidence.
“We have come to the view that it is time for change.”
Sinn Féin’s Conor Murphy said his party had never insinuated or suggested that it would be withdrawing from policing arrangements in relation to the events at the Troubles commemoration.
“We’ve been involved in policing on the policing board and on local policing arrangements to hold policing to account to ensure the process and progress of transformation,” he said
“The job of all political representatives on all of these bodies is to ensure that we hold all levels of policing to account and that’s what we do.”
Image source, PA Media
DUP policing board members Joanne Bunting (left) and Trevor Clarke (right) attended Thursday’s meeting along with independent board member Mukesh Sharma (centre)
Alliance leader Naomi Long, who was previously Stormont’s justice minister, addressed questions over her contact with Mr Byrne around the time of the Ormeau Road arrest controversy.
She said “at all times” as justice minister she made a “clear distinction” between her role and oversight bodies such as the Policing Board.
“At no time, and on no issue, did I ever seek to influence the chief constable’s decision-making in any way,” she added.
Mrs Long said she had two phone calls with Mr Byrne after the incident, one of which was a scheduled “routine” communication and the other a briefing on the outcome of a policing board meeting.
“That was a briefing he gave me, I was not there to brief him,” she added.
“These are matters ultimately for the chief constable to decide and the chief constable has to account for his conduct.”
Following Thursday’s meeting, TUV leader Jim Allister said the policing board has “predictably failed” and, as a result, “the farce continues” with Mr Byrne’s “reputation beyond repair”.
“This is the same chief constable who just a few days ago said that he accepted the judgement of the High Court. Now, to save his own skin, he says he considering an appeal,” Mr Allister said.
