DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson calls for changes at top of PSNI at Stormont party talks

Sir Jeffrey Donaldson has increased pressure on the Chief Constable Simon Byrne by saying it is "time for change" at the head of the PSNI.

He said the questions now should be focused on who can win back confidence in the organisation.

Speaking to media at Stormont Castle following a meeting between the parties and the head of the Northern Ireland Civil Service Jayne Brady, Sir Jeffrey echoed comments by his colleague Trevor Clarke that Chief Constable Simon Byrne should resign.

It comes after a High Court judge ruled that a decision to take action against two junior officers was unlawful.

The officers were disciplined after an incident on the Ormeau Road in February 2021 during a service marking the anniversary of the February 1992 Sean Graham bookmakers attack in which five people were murdered.

Mr Justice Scoffield said the decision was made to discipline the officers to allay any threat of Sinn Féin abandoning its support for policing in Northern Ireland.

"I think that the developments this week with the high court ruling on the judicial review brought by two PSNI constables has raised some very serious issues, and I think this goes to the heart of public confidence in our police service and the senior leadership," Sir Jeffrey said.

"I think the key issue for the Policing Board now is, who is best placed to win back that confidence because there's no doubt there have been a series of situations and events that have harmed public confidence, and not only public confidence, I speak to many serving police officers who themselves are very concerned about the leadership they're getting.

"I think the key question for the Policing Board today is who is best placed to lead the police service in winning back public confidence and addressing the very real issues and problems that have arisen in recent weeks that have undermined public confidence.

"We have come to the view that it is time for change."

Sir Jeffrey's comments came after the DUP's policing board member Trevor Clarke once again called for Simon Byrne to resign.

Speaking as he arrived for a meeting of the Northern Ireland Policing Board meeting in Belfast, at which Mr Byrne will appear, Mr Clarke said: "The decision for him should be to go instead of forcing us to actually force him to resign.

"He hasn't resigned on previous occasions and maybe we didn't join in terms of that chorus, but this is different. The courts have concluded on this one. There are other investigations that haven't concluded, we don't know how they will look, and those obviously will bear a different bearing for him in the future if he continues to hang around and other members don't support us.

"The high court has ruled in this case and it's clear from that that there has been political interference, and he has been led by that in terms of his judgment in relation to those two officers."

Mr Clarke added: "Sinn Féin may have denied that, of course, but he (Byrne) has it in his notebooks. Whether it happened or not, it was part of his decision in terms of that decision-making process.

"We can get into semantics of whether it happened or not, but ultimately he put in his notebook, it bore some of his consideration whenever he came to the determination to suspend the officer."

Sinn Féin’s Conor Murphy reiterated his party’s position that they did not say, or suggest, that the party would withdraw its support for policing in Northern Ireland.

“We were absolutely categorical that we did not insinuate or suggest that we’d be withdrawing from policing arrangements.

"We've been involved in policing on the Policing Board and on local policing arrangements to hold policing to account to ensure the process and progress of transformation.

“The job of everyone on the Policing Board - not just Sinn Féin representatives - is to work with, and hold to account policing at all levels and that is what we do.”

Mr Murphy would not be drawn on Sinn Féin’s position in regards to the future of the Chief Constable.

“That will be a matter that our representatives on the Policing Board will work with others to discuss."

Alliance Party Leader Naomi Long denied any suggestion that she sought to influence the Chief Constable’s decision making while she was Justice Minister.

“At all times as Justice Minister, I made a clear distinction between my role as Minister, and the role of the oversight bodies of the Ombudsman’s office and the Policing Board.

“That still stands for me today as a politician.

“At no time, and on no issue, did I ever seek to influence the Chief Constable’s decision making in any way.

“These are matters for the Chief Constable ultimately to decide, and the Chief Constable has to account for his conduct, that is what the Policing Board’s role is, and that is what the Policing Board will be doing today, and I have no intention now - anymore than I would have then - of preempting the decision of the Policing Board.”

“There are many complex questions that need to be answered as a result of this judgement and the Chief Constable needs to be given the opportunity to answer those questions today.”

UUP Leader Dough Beattie reiterated that he has no confidence in the PSNI leadership.

“Of course you can say that the Chief Constable has to go, and that might well be the case, but just taking Simon Byrne out of the equation isn’t going to fix the inherent problems that we’re finding within the Police Service.

“How could anybody have confidence after what we’ve witnessed over the last 24 hours and the information that has come from the High Court?

“We do need to look the Chief Constable in the eye, we do need to ask him questions, we do need to get the answers.”

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