Sinn Féin Leas Uachtarán Michelle O’Neill led a party delegation, including Policing Board Member Gerry Kelly MLA, in a meeting with the PSNI Chief Constable Simon Byrne and Deputy Chief Constable Mark Hamilton.

The Sinn Féin team raised the role of the PSNI in legacy matters and their lack of co-operation with Police Ombudsman that has delayed the publication of her report into the Sean Graham Bookmakers Massacre.

Michelle O’Neill said:

“We had a wide-ranging exchange with the Chief Constable on a number of issues of concern.

“I told Simon Byrne that the PSNI is not trusted on legacy matters and that their continued involvement is seriously damaging to wider community confidence in policing.

“I specifically told the Chief Constable that the experience of families who lost loved ones in the Sean Graham Bookmakers Massacre is that the PSNI have consistently frustrated and blocked the Police Ombudsman investigations.

“I emphasised to him the immediate requirement for full PSNI co-operation with the Police Ombudsman to ensure that her report is published without further delay.”

Michelle O’Neill said the Sinn Féin delegation also discussed the police investigation into the death of Noah Donohoe, current street disorder and the need for a consistent policing response to Loyalist protests at interface areas.

“I took the opportunity yet again to raise with the Chief Constable my serious concerns around the Noah Donohoe investigation and the many unanswered questions that remain unaddressed. I also expressed concern that the PSNI seek to redact documents under the guise of public interest immunity.

“The Sinn Féin team also raised a number of other matters in respect of the PSNI approach to the upsurge in drink spiking and the case of Marian Beattie, a young woman who was murdered in Aughnacloy on 30 March, 1973.”