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 this evening.

The Sinn Féin team raised the role of the PSNI in the Pat Finucane case while urging the PSNI to disengage from direct involvement in legacy matters.

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 role in reviewing the Pat Finucane case at the request of the British government is hugely controversial, politically sensitive, and damaging to community confidence. I told him that the PSNI cannot and should not be used by the British government as a proxy to cover up their failures in directing a public inquiry into the 1989 killing of an esteemed human rights lawyer. 

“I told him that the British government’s intent on legacy matters risks reversing the political progress that has been made over many years that was designed to take the statutory responsibility for legacy investigation off the PSNI.  I was clear the PSNI should disengage from direct involvement in legacy matters. The PSNI assessment that they too have no appetite to be drawn back into legacy matters was to be welcomed.”

Michelle O’Neill said the Sinn Féin delegation also discussed the police investigation into the death of Noah Donohoe.

“I took the opportunity to raise with the Chief Constable my serious concerns around the investigation. I further raised the fact that there are still many unanswered questions.  This must be addressed. 

“The Sinn Féin team also raised a number of other matters in respect of the importance of a focus on keeping communities safe, the importance of disclosure to the Courts and the Black Lives Matters protests.”