A former RUC and senior PSNI officer has revealed how he consulted senior republicans and loyalists before applying to head up a controversial new legacy investigation team.
Peter Sheridan was confirmed as the new Commissioner for Investigations at the Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery (ICRIR) last month.
The body has been established as part of the British government’s disputed new legacy legislation.
The Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Act passed into law last month.
The new law, opposed by victims groups branded the Bill of Shame, provides immunity in some circumstances and ends all inquests and civil cases.
Multiple legal challenges opposing it have been lodged with the High Court in Belfast.
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Former Lord Chief Justice Sir Declan Morgan has been appointed as chief commissioner of the new body, while Mr Sheridan, a former Assistant Chief Constable with the PSNI, will head investigations.
A police officer for 32 years, Mr Sheridan retired in 2008 and was later appointed as chief executive of Co-Operation Ireland - an all-Ireland peace building organisation.
Since then he has enjoyed a high profile and was instrumental in arranging a first handshake between former Sinn Féin Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness and the late Queen Elizabeth in 2012.
As Commissioner for Investigations, he will sit as an executive member of the ICRIR and act as Chair of the Investigative Oversight Board.
Supporters of the legacy law hope that former combatants, including paramilitary members, will engage with the commission, with immunity from prosecution offered in some circumstances.
A significant number of victims and survivors of the Troubles and campaign groups are bitterly opposed to the establishment of the ICRIR, which they believe has been devised and set up to hide the full part played by British state agencies during the Troubles, including in the killings of innocent Catholics and others.
Speaking to the Irish News Mr Sheridan, who will take up his new post in December, acknowledged the new structures face difficulties.
“There are clearly still challenges around the bill, there’s clearly complications around it and it's not perfect by any means and we will see where the courts go with that over the next while because there are some legal challenges around it,” he said.
The former police officer said that both he and Sir Declan have been adamant that future investigations have to be compliant with the European Convention on Human Rights.
While some question whether the new law is morally justified, Mr Sheridan referenced difficult decisions having been made in the past.
He pointed to early release for paramilitary prisoners under the Good Friday Agreement (GFA), decommissioned weapons not being forensically examined, the remains of the Disappeared not being tested and an end to all extradition cases.
“So how do we bring this to a conclusion that brings victims and survivors the best opportunity of justice in this?” he asked.
“Whether that’s justice in a court of law or whether it's justice because they find out more about the death of their loved one.
“Unfortunately we are not, and I think we have to be honest with people, given the passage of time, we are not going to prosecute our way out of this, out of legacy.
“And we are not going to be able to do justice on the scale of the injustice on all sides.
“So, the question is for victims and survivors, what we can do….that gives them the best opportunity, that feeling that somehow the deaths of their loved ones have been acknowledged and we will give them some sense of hope around it.”
He said the approach to legacy since the signing of the GFA has been “fragmented since the start”.
It recently emerged that several years ago Mr Sheridan facilitated a meeting between a senior IRA member and the widow of an RUC man killed by republicans in the 1970s.
Mr Sheridan believes that opportunities like that can continue to open up for others.
“When I came away from that meeting I knew this was another way of dealing with the past,” he said.
“That’s not going to suit everybody, not everybody will want to do it, not everybody will want to face the perpetrator, but some people do get healing from it.
“Certainly this lady got healing from it and it’s another alternative just to prosecutions,” he said.
He said that under the legislation he is “obliged to try and discover the answers” to any questions asked of him by victims, survivors and families.
“Now, if we can imagine a day when getting answers to those questions people in paramilitary organisations were willing to help and assist get that information, state agencies willing to help and get that information, that’s the best possibility of giving justice to people in this place,” he said.
Mr Sheridan revealed how he took soundings before applying for the senior ICRIR role.
“But then I did speak to people who I would trust their judgement in all sorts of groups and organisations to take a sense, if I applied for this how do they think it would go down, not least because of my background in policing,” he said.
“And whilst people flagged up all of the challenges around it, nobody said to me ‘you are the wrong person to do this’.”
Mr Sheridan also confirmed that before applying he spoke to both republicans and loyalists.
“Absolutely, yes, and senior thinking republicans…. people who have their finger on the pulse, who would know,” he said.
“And there’s people who said to me, ‘watch for double speak’.”
Mr Sheridan pointed to previous instances when paramilitary groups have co-operated with investigations.
“The IRA for example have already assisted around the Disappeared, the bodies of the Disappeared,” he said.
“So, those bodies would never have been recovered if it hadn’t been information that came from the IRA, to know where the people were buried,” he said.
“Well, if we have already done that, is there other ways we can now assist victims and survivors, because those families at least were able to bury their loved one that they hadn’t been able to do for 20 or 30 years.
“Now, are that family going to get justice, somebody in court?
“Probably not.
“But what they got was the body of their loved one back and they can now bury them.”
He revealed how the appointment of Sir Declan as chief commissioner was a key factor in his decision to go for the investigation role.
“I mean I didn’t apply when the application process started in the beginning, I applied later when Sir Declan was appointed because I thought then there could be an independence to this given his credibility,” he said.
He said the appointment of Mr Morgan also gave him confidence that as chief commissioner he will “stand for what is right and won’t be pushed about by anybody”.
While in post as an assistant chief constable he headed the PSNI's Crime Operations Department, which included the C3 intelligence unit, often referred to Special Branch.
He pointed out that during his career he remained in uniform and was not directly involved in the type of work undertaken by Special Branch.
He does acknowledge that he did have concerns around policing.
“You don’t go through an organisation for 30 odd years and not have concerns about some of the people and some of the activities, of course you will have those,” he said.
“But I believe that there were processes and systems in place that would be able to deal with those, particularly later when the (police) ombudsman’s office was established.
He added that even though as “a lot of police officers” were prosecuted and dealt with by “internal investigation” he understands that “from a perception point of view, people didn’t see it”.
In recent years some retired police officers have challenged the findings of several Police Ombudsman reports that pointed to evidence of collusive behaviour.
Mr Sheridan said he accepts recent ombudsman findings but highlights that debate exists over different definitions of collusion.
“But in terms of investigations by the ombudsman’s office, of course I accept and respect what they say,” he added.
When pressed on whether he believes there was collusion, Mr Sheridan added: “Do I think there were people, police officers who assisted, of course I do….(assisted loyalists) or any terrorist, of course I do”.
“Not least because it’s said, the evidence is there from the ombudsman’s report and there are further investigations still going on, as you know, we are waiting on Jon Boutcher (Operation Kenova) reporting.
“I absolutely accept there were people who were involved who didn’t go out (and do) what I did every day, which was to protect other people’s rights in this society.”
Mr Sheridan agreed that while heading up the PSNI’s Crime Operations Department he encountered sensitive and secret information.
He added that should he have any information that would assist ICRIR investigators he would make them aware of it.
He said that if at any point there was a requirement for him to become a witness processes are in place under the new structures.
Mr Sheridan said that while conversations have yet to take place, under the new legislation PSNI, MI5 and the British army are “duty bound” to co-operate with the ICRIR.
“Not only will there be conversations, there will be written protocols and there are penalties for people who don’t assist,” he said.
“That’s part of the design of the process, putting in protocols, so information the police have to give you, the Security Service (MI5) have to give you, the army have to give you.
“I’m not sure we will be able to get protocols with paramilitary organisations but I would like people in those organisations who have information that can help victims and survivors to do that.
“And we will be saying, and I know Sir Declan is the same, the state will have a responsibility to provide the information we ask for.”
Mr Sheridan said he is aware of the perception his former job creates.
“I am very conscious my background in policing for some people is an issue,” he said.
“Whilst I understand that, particularly for people who don’t known me, but it’s a perception and it’s not who I am.
“I can remain true to myself and do the thing properly and honestly irrespective of my background.”
“Secondly, I don’t think you can stigmatise a whole 30 years or 40 years of one organisation - that everybody was somehow incapable of acting properly in it.”
He said that under parity of esteem principles embodied in the Good Friday Agreement he embraced Martin McGuinness as education minister and later Deputy First Minister “because I believed that if we were going to move this place on that was the right and proper thing to do”.
“Or, the fact that I fully embrace Gerry Kelly to be able to pick the next chief constable,” he added.
“Those are big asks for people.
“So, I don’t understand why it’s not OK for an ex-police officer to become a commissioner on the same grounds as that if parity of esteem is meant to be parity of esteem for everybody.”
Mr Sheridan believes the current legislation provides an opportunity for society to progress.
“So maybe this is the first opportunity, if people are willing to play their part,” he said.