Mixed feelings as O'Loan departs
NUALA O'Loan yesterday admitted the criticism levelled at her and her family during her time as Police Ombudsman had caused her distress and almost led her to quit the post.
Even as she cleared her desk to make way for successor Al Hutchinson there were those who said "good riddance" and claimed she had arrogantly refused to admit that "at times she got things wrong".
Yet she insisted that despite the ups and downs she was now leaving the Ombudsman's Office with a heavy heart and would have preferred to work on but for the fact that there was a seven year limit on holding the job.
Mrs O'Loan agreed the posting had been difficult at times, particularly after former RUC Chief Constable Sir Ronnie Flanagan and others criticised her Omagh probe – and when her family and events such as a bust-up in a coffee shop with Ian Paisley Jnr were spotlighted.
"I am a human being and I have been affected by things like the attacks on my children," she said.
"I was distressed by Sir Ronnie's response to the Omagh report.
"But a job has to be done and you don't desist from doing a job because people are trying to divert you from the job by attacking you personally or attacking your family.
"Although it's been tough, I am hugely glad I had the opportunity."
But others said Mrs O'Loan spent too long worrying about the past – which was the remit of the Historical Enquiries Team – and pursued a witch-hunt of the RUC and Special Branch.
A spokesperson for the Police Federation – representing current and former officers – said: "Mrs O'Loan has never been able to accept that at times she got things wrong.
"She gradually lost the confidence of the serving and retired officers during her tenure in office."
She defended her reputation among police officers and maintained that her work had been evidence-based.
The Police Federation said it hoped the new Ombudsman, Canadian Al Hutchinson, the former police oversight commissioner for Northern Ireland, would be supported across the community and by the PSNI itself.
The watchdog was appointed as part of the shake-up of the police force recommended by the 1999 report by Lord Patten.
Mrs O'Loan started work in summer 2000 and has maintained a high profile.
In one recent report she said police had colluded with UVF members in north Belfast to protect them while they carried out murders, beatings and dealt in drugs.
It was the Ombudsman who launched a scathing report on the Royal Ulster Constabulary's handling of the Omagh inquiry.
The Real IRA was blamed for the massacre but Mrs O'Loan focused on a series of alleged failings by police.
She revealed that 11 days before the bombing an anonymous caller gave police details of a planned gun and rocket attack in Omagh.
Michael Gallagher, whose son Aidan died in the Omagh blast, paid tribute to Mrs O'Loan's courage.
"She has had to pay an unacceptable price for the courage that she has shown and I think that when the final definitive history of the Troubles is written she will be one of the few who held high office who have come out of this with extreme credibility," he said.
"She is one of the few who were truthful and honest and courageous."
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Monday 28 May 2012
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