Opinion

Denis Bradley: PSNI need to be freed from dealing with legacy of our past

Denis Bradley

Denis Bradley

Denis Bradley is a columnist for The Irish News and former vice-chairman of the Northern Ireland Policing Board.

 Sinn Féin representatives look on as George Hamilton appears speaks during the press conference. Picture by Mal McCann
 Sinn Féin representatives look on as George Hamilton appears speaks during the press conference. Picture by Mal McCann  Sinn Féin representatives look on as George Hamilton appears speaks during the press conference. Picture by Mal McCann

Few enough things happen accidentally. They are allowed or made to happen.

Stormont would never have got up and running had not the two governments stood full square behind it. The Patten recommendations on policing would never had been implemented had not the two governments put their shoulders and their money to that wheel. Decommissioning of weapons and explosives might never have happened had not the two governments insisted that it take place to allow the political institutions to be fully inclusive.

Conversely, the legacy issue was ignored because the two governments thought the bulk of the work was done and the political institutions would stutter on without going into the midden that is the past.

Ironically, in the light of the hullaballoo about missing files that were belatedly found, the people who were most convinced that the past had to be addressed were the leadership of the new policing service, the PSNI and the then chair of the Policing Board. Local politicians were on a continuum from cautious to hostile. The British government slowly came to agree that a process of consultation and study should be undertaken. The Irish government stood aside and refused to take any ownership of the problem but just in case they might be blindsided they attached an observer to the process.

The result of the consultation and the recommendations was handed to the British government in 2009, some ten years ago. It had more than thirty recommendations, covering a vast array of features and topics. Underpinning all the recommendations were a few core principles and practicalities. Firstly, the two governments were to take the lead. They could involve the devolved institutions and the local political parties, but the governments would take the lead and be responsible for seeing it through. Secondly, the police were to be freed from dealing with the legacy of our past. They would not be considered sufficiently independent and involvement with legacy would hinder present and future policing. Thirdly, the work was to be completed in five years and after that a line was to be drawn under the past to allow our society to move on.

The police were favourable to the report; the Irish government were going through a nervous breakdown as a result of the demise of the Celtic tiger and had little to say. It is reported that the boss of the Northern Ireland Office threw the document in the waste paper basket proclaiming that it was the best place for it. Shaun Woodward, the secretary of state, blew hot and cold for a time and then gave it the thumbs down.

That is a potted history of what happened way back then and nothing much has changed in ten years. There have been more consultations and an agreement between most of our political parties called the Stormont House Agreement. It is a worthy effort, but it is based on the false premise that Stormont and the executive should be responsible for its implementation. That conveniently allows the governments off the hook. It also allows nothing to happen while Stormont is in suspension.

Victims and survivors on all sides have been poorly treated for far too long. That is not going to be reversed or reconciled by allowing and enabling policing to be damaged by an absence of a proper process that frees it from dealing with the past. For many years the police have been asking to be freed of this burden, but they have done so in a very mild and respectful manner. They are normally overly respectful to politicians.

The Policing Board, where initial efforts began, are in a strong position to constructively intervene. Their primary role is to hold the police to account. It can be argued that that accountability is for present policing. It is not to clean up the past. Accountability for the past lies with the two governments. The board should defend the integrity of and confidence in policing. Enough members could be mustered from the nine independents and ten politicians to advise the two governments that the PSNI would no longer involve themselves in legacy issues.

That would create a political and legal hullabaloo. It would also challenge the governments to take their responsibility more seriously than hitherto. It would be a positive and much needed contribution to policing and ironically it would be a positive contribution to the victims and survivors whose just demands have been neglected for far too long.