Simon Byrne’s swift discipline of PSNI officers raises fresh questions about his handling of his own job as chief constable

News Letter editorial of February 8 2021:
News Letter editorialNews Letter editorial
News Letter editorial

The loyalist Sean Graham 1992 attack in Belfast was one of the many heinous civilian Troubles massacres.

No-one can be surprised that the loved ones of the dead will always keep alive the memory of the victims and seek truth and justice too.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The incident on Friday involving police arose from a gathering to commemorate the dead, 29 years later.

But the powerful human instinct to honour the dead cannot be the only consideration in whether or not it is appropriate to breach coronavirus rules. If it was, then no such guidelines or regulations would apply to funerals. Society would simply say that funerals are wholly exempt from restriction because the impulse to mourn is more important than health considerations. And after all, when someone dies it is the single biggest moment when their life is remembered.

For almost a year now, many thousands of funerals in Northern Ireland have been much smaller than they should have been due to Covid restrictions.

That human desire for a major event to celebrate the lifetime of the recently deceased has been suppressed — and for very sound health reasons.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

If Stormont feels that in fact funerals and commemorations are voluntary, and that in fact people can have larger gatherings than the politicians feel is apt on health grounds, then it needs to reflect that in legislation and in utterances.

If it does not do that, then it has to be seen to be making an effort to enforce the rules, in fairness to the great bulk of bereaved people who have heeded the call for sacrifice.

The chief constable has moved to discipline officers involved in Friday’s incident prior to a disciplinary process and after political pressure. The most intense of that pressure came from a political party whose leaders were involved in the biggest funeral breach of all, that of a leading terrorist.

This, like Simon Byrne’s apology over the appropriate PSNI action against calculated Black Lives Matter mass Covid breaches, raises troubling questions about his leadership.

——— ———

A message from the Editor:

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Thank you for reading this story on our website. While I have your attention, I also have an important request to make of you.

With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our advertisers — and consequently the revenue we receive — we are more reliant than ever on you taking out a digital subscription.

Subscribe to newsletter.co.uk and enjoy unlimited access to the best Northern Ireland and UK news and information online and on our app. With a digital subscription, you can read more than 5 articles, see fewer ads, enjoy faster load times, and get access to exclusive newsletters and content. Visit https://www.newsletter.co.uk/subscriptions now to sign up.

Our journalism costs money and we rely on advertising, print and digital revenues to help to support them. By supporting us, we are able to support you in providing trusted, fact-checked content for this website.

Alistair Bushe

Editor