The Northern Ireland Policing Board ( ga, Bord Póilíneachta Thuaisceart Éireann, Ulster-Scots: ''Norlin Airlan Polisin Boord'') is the

police authority A police authority in the United Kingdom is a public authority that is responsible for overseeing the operations of a police force. The nature and composition of police authorities has varied over time, and there are now just four dedicated "police ...

for

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

, charged with supervising the activities of the

Police Service of Northern Ireland The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI; ga, Seirbhís Póilíneachta Thuaisceart Éireann; Ulster Scots dialects, Ulster-Scots: ') is the police, police force that serves Northern Ireland. It is the successor to the Royal Ulster Constabu ...

(PSNI). It is a

non-departmental public body In the United Kingdom, non-departmental public body (NDPB) is a classification applied by the Cabinet Office, Treasury, the Scottish Government and the Northern Ireland Executive to public sector organisations that have a role in the process of n ...

composed of members of the

Northern Ireland Assembly sco-ulster, Norlin Airlan Assemblie , legislature = 7th Northern Ireland Assembly, Seventh Assembly , coa_pic = File:NI_Assembly.svg , coa_res = 250px , house_type = Unicameralism, Unicameral , hou ...

and independent citizens who are appointed by the

Minister of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a v ...

using the Nolan principles for public appointments.

History

The board is not the first police oversight body in the history of Northern Ireland. It was established on 4 November 2001 pursuant to the

Police (Northern Ireland) Act 2000 The Police (Northern Ireland) Act 2000 (c 32) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The act renamed the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) to the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI). It also created the Northern Ireland Policing ...

, as the direct successor of the

Police Authority for Northern Ireland The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest and ...

, which oversaw the

Royal Ulster Constabulary The Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) was the police force in Northern Ireland from 1922 to 2001. It was founded on 1 June 1922 as a successor to the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC)Richard Doherty, ''The Thin Green Line – The History of the Royal ...

. Appointments were made by the

Secretary of State for Northern Ireland A secretary, administrative professional, administrative assistant, executive assistant, administrative officer, administrative support specialist, clerk, military assistant, management assistant, office secretary, or personal assistant is a w ...

prior to the devolution of policing and justice. When the Assembly was suspended in October 2002, the first board's members were re-appointed as independents by the Secretary of State to enable it to continue its work (despite most being political representatives). The Policing Board was reconstituted on 1 April 2006, 22 May 2007 and again on 24 May 2011. The third reconstitution of the board in 2007 was historic as

Sinn Féin Sinn Féin ( , ; en, " eOurselves") is an Irish republican and democratic socialist political party active throughout both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The original Sinn Féin organisation was founded in 1905 by Arthur Gri ...

took up its seats on the Policing Board following the party's decision to support 'civic policing' by the PSNI at its

ardfheis or ''ardfheis'' ( , ; "high assembly"; plural ''ardfheiseanna'') is the name used by many Irish political parties for their annual party conference. The term was first used by Conradh na Gaeilge, the Irish language cultural organisation, for i ...

on 28 January 2007. Sinn Féin was associated in the past with the

Provisional Irish Republican Army The Irish Republican Army (IRA; ), also known as the Provisional Irish Republican Army, and informally as the Provos, was an Irish republican paramilitary organisation that sought to end British rule in Northern Ireland, facilitate Irish reun ...

(PIRA), which killed 271

officers and 12 police officers outside Northern Ireland during

the Troubles The Troubles ( ga, Na Trioblóidí) were an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted about 30 years from the late 1960s to 1998. Also known internationally as the Northern Ireland conflict, it is sometimes described as an "i ...

, and had refused to recognise the legal authority of the RUC or PSNI until that point. On 7 February 2008, the Policing Board decided to appoint a panel of independent experts to re-review the police investigation of the

Omagh bombing The Omagh bombing was a car bombing on 15 August 1998 in the town of Omagh in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It was carried out by the Real Irish Republican Army (Real IRA), a Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) splinter group who oppose ...

. Some of the relatives of the bombing victims criticised the decision, saying that an international public inquiry covering both the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island. A ...

and

should be established instead. The review was to determine whether enough evidence existed for further prosecutions. It would also investigate the possible

perjury Perjury (also known as foreswearing) is the intentional act of swearing a false oath or falsifying an affirmation to tell the truth, whether spoken or in writing, concerning matters material to an official proceeding."Perjury The act or an inst ...

of two police witnesses made during the trial of suspect Sean Hoey."Omagh bomb investigation review"
.

BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broadca ...

. Published 7 February 2008.

Policing Board member

Alex Maskey Alex Maskey (born 8 January 1952) is an Irish politician who has been Speaker of the Northern Ireland Assembly since 2020 and was the first member of Sinn Féin to serve as Lord Mayor of Belfast from 2002 to 2003. He was Sinn Féin's longest s ...

stated that his party fully supported the families' right to call for a "full cross-border independent inquiry" while the Policing Board had a "clear and legal obligation to scrutinise the police handling of the investigations." He also stated: "We recognise that the board has a major responsibility in carrying out our duty in holding the PSNI to account in the interests of justice for the Omagh families.""Orde to outline the extent of dissident threat"
. ''

The Belfast Telegraph The ''Belfast Telegraph'' is a daily newspaper published in Belfast, Northern Ireland, by Independent News & Media. Its editor is Eoin Brannigan. Reflecting its unionist tradition, the paper has historically been "favoured by the Protestant pop ...

''. Published 7 February 2008. On 22 November 2009, a 400lb car bomb was driven to the Policing Board building in Belfast. It partially exploded but no one was hurt. Republican dissidents tried to ambush policemen on the same day. The incident was one of several cross-border attacks carried out by hardline republicans in 2009–2010; others included the 2010 Newry car bombing."Gardaí say dissidents no threat to Britain,"
Cormac O'Keeffe, 18 September 2010, Irish Examiner.

Composition

According to the department, the appointment of all independent members is made on merit and political activity plays no part in the selection process. However, the Commissioner for Public Appointments for Northern Ireland requires that the political activity of appointees be published, for accountability. The practice of appointing 'independent' members, who were also full members of political parties, was also common across the district policing partnerships organised by the Policing Board, thus reducing the number of places available for members of the public with no political connections.

Current members

The current board was constituted on 29 November 2018. Democratic Unionist Party *

Keith Buchanan Keith Buchanan (born 11 May 1973) is a Unionist politician from Northern Ireland representing the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP). Buchanan was elected as a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Mid Ulster in 2016. In November 2021 ...

MLA * Joanne Bunting MLA *

Mervyn Storey Robert Mervyn Storey (born 4 September 1964), usually known as Mervyn Storey, is a Unionist politician from Northern Ireland. He formerly represented the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) in the Northern Ireland Assembly, where he was a Member ...

MLA *

Gary Middleton Gary Middleton (born 20 June 1990) is a Unionist politician from Northern Ireland representing the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP). He has been a member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for Foyle since April 2015, when he was co-opte ...

MLA Sinn Féin *

Gerry Kelly Gerard Kelly (Irish: Gearard Ó Ceallaigh; born 5 April 1953) is an Irish republican politician and former Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) member who played a leading role in the negotiations that led to the Good Friday Agreement on 1 ...

MLA *

Linda Dillon Linda Dillon (Irish: Líonda Diolún; born 5 August 1978) is an Irish Sinn Féin politician from Northern Ireland. She has been an MLA for Mid Ulster since 2016. Originally elected as a Mid-Ulster councillor for the Torrent DEA (topping the p ...

MLA * Philip McGuigan MLA Ulster Unionist Party *

Mike Nesbitt Michael Nesbitt, MLA (born 11 May 1957) is a British politician and former broadcaster

History

Composition

Current members

See also

References

External links