Northern Ireland

No `justification' for PSNI resignations over Bobby Storey funeral - inspectors

A crowd listening to former Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams speak during the funeral of former leading IRA figure Bobby Storey. Picture by Liam McBurney/PA Wire
A crowd listening to former Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams speak during the funeral of former leading IRA figure Bobby Storey. Picture by Liam McBurney/PA Wire A crowd listening to former Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams speak during the funeral of former leading IRA figure Bobby Storey. Picture by Liam McBurney/PA Wire

THE PSNI did not show bias in its handling of senior republican Bobby Storey's funeral and there is no `justification' for any officers to resign, inspectors have said.

The report by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) followed calls for Chief Constable Simon Byrne to stand down after officers' engagement with Sinn Féin ahead of the funeral was cited as one reason why prosecutions could not be brought against 24 party members,

Around 2,000 mourners lined the streets of west Belfast for Mr Storey's funeral at a time when strict Covid-19 regulations were in place.

Mr Byrne welcomed the report and insisted, despite the finding it had not shown bias, the PNSI is responsive to such criticism.

"In the last few months there has been a lot of emotion around policing this funeral and we need to work hard to convince, particularly at the moment, the Protestant/unionist/loyalist communities that we are here to police them just the same as anyone else and we are going to redouble our efforts across the summer."

The chief constable again stressed he has "no intention of resigning", pointing out "the findings from the Inspectorate have shown the sheer confusion and anomalies with the regulations".

"Leading a large, complex organisation, there will be occasions where things do not go as well as you hoped.

"You have to take that on the chin, listen to the criticism and move on.

"We are here to listen. We're here to police all sections of the community in a fair and even-handed way. We have been working hard right across the country to demonstrate we are committed to being fair and impartial."

Her Majesty's Inspector of Constabulary Matt Parr said "the service took a sensitive approach, and ultimately achieved what it set out to do - prioritising public security over compliance with the regulations".

"The PSNI faced the complex challenge of policing a politically-sensitive funeral while also trying to interpret the confusing Covid-19 regulations."

Mr Parr noted Sinn Féin's Gerry Kelly "chose not to share his account of his conversations with the PSNI commanders in the run-up to the funeral with us".

The inspector agreed with Public Prosecution Service that the "complex and frequently changing Covid-19 regulations" meant "we are not confident that there was enough evidence to prove to a court that any of the attendees at Bobby Storey's funeral had knowingly committed an offence".

"I am reassured that the PSNI showed no bias in its handling of the funeral, and that the service would have taken the same approach if the funeral was held in a different community."

However, he did say the service has "lessons to learn" from its handling of the funeral.

Justice Minister Naomi Long said as the report's criticisms of PSNI engagement with the event organisers "were not especially serious failings, they did not justify individual officers being censured or called upon to resign".

SDLP Policing Board member Dolores Kelly said "the rush to recriminate and call for police resignations was a mistake", saying "the failures that day, and since, rest entirely with political leaders".

However, she said there have been "concerns about the policing response throughout the pandemic" and welcomed the chief constable's commitment to addressing these.

Ulster Unionist policing spokesperson Mike Nesbitt insisted the service still has "major questions to answer, especially regarding the 'degree of informality' in discussions with funeral organisers", saying "the PSNI at senior level must review the nature of the relationship with Sinn Fein".

The party's new leader Doug Beattie said while the UUP's position remains that the chief constable should resign, he is "willing to work with Simon Byrne".

"He can build back that confidence and he can change, anyone can change, and if he does so then the whole situation changes."

However, DUP assembly member Mervyn Storey called for the Policing Board to "establish a process to examine the impact of police failings on support for the police and rule of law, not just in the context of the Storey funeral but in relation to allegations of two-tier policing in the policing of parades and protests".