Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) chief constable Simon Byrne has resigned with “immediate effect”, stating it is now time for “someone new” to lead the force.
Mr Byrne, who was appointed to the North’s top policing post in 2019, had faced mounting pressure to step down following a series of controversies over the past month.
The development was confirmed yesterday afternoon after an emergency meeting of the Policing Board for Northern Ireland, the oversight body that holds the PSNI to account.
Difficult days
Board chairwoman Deirdre Toner said last night that members have agreed to prioritise recruitment of a new chief constable, a role considered one of the most politicised in UK policing.
A personal statement from Mr Byrne was read out by the board during the press conference.
“The last few days have been very difficult for all concerned,” it read. “Regardless of the rights and wrongs, it is now time for someone new to lead this proud and resolute organisation.”
The board questioned Mr Byrne for five hours in a meeting last Thursday after a court ruled that two junior officers were unlawfully disciplined for an arrest at a Troubles commemoration event on Belfast’s Ormeau Road two years ago. The event was marking the anniversary of the 1992 Sean Graham bookmakers attack where five people were murdered by loyalist paramilitaries.
The judge said the officers had been disciplined to allay a real or perceived threat that Sinn Féin could withdraw its support for policing. Sinn Féin has denied any such threat.
Mr Byrne insisted he would not resign and indicated that he was considering an appeal against the court ruling.
That move sparked outrage among the Police Federation, which represents rank-and-file officers, with its chairman Liam Kelly expressing “disbelief and anger”. An extraordinary federation meeting was due to take place tomorrow where it was expected a no-confidence motion in the chief constable would be tabled, the first since the organisation was founded in 1971.
Data breach
Last month, the chief constable also faced calls to resign following an unprecedented data breach in which the details of 10,000 police officers and staff were accidentally put on the internet.
Mr Byrne was due to appear before MPs at the Westminster Northern Ireland Affairs Committee this morning to give evidence on the data breach, but will no longer do so.
Speaking to the media following Mr Byrne’s resignation, policing board vice-chairman Edgar Jardine said that critical statements from the Police Federation, and Nipsa, which represents civilian PSNI staff, had a “quite significant impact” on Mr Byrne’s decision.
Political reaction
The DUP last week submitted a motion of no-confidence in Mr Byrne to the board.
Reacting to the resignation, DUP party leader Jeffrey Donaldson said it was the “first step towards rebuilding confidence in the PSNI both inside and outside the organisation”.
Sinn Féin MLA and Policing Board member Gerry Kelly said a new chief constable would provide an opportunity to focus on a police service that “has the confidence of the entire community”.
Alliance’s Nuala McAllister, who also sits on the board, said “fundamental challenges” facing policing in the North have not gone away and that the party’s concerns do not “begin and end with one individual”.
SDLP leader Colum Eastwood said confidence in Mr Byrne had been “irreparably shattered” and questions over his tenure had become a distraction. Mr Eastwood added that he would be speaking to Northern Secretary Chris Heaton Harris about “the scale of the challenges facing policing” in the North.
Ulster Unionist Party leader Doug Beattie said Mr Byrne had “done the right thing but this was never about just one man”.
Liam Kelly said morale has “never been lower” among serving officers and that Mr Byrne’s successor “has a mountain to climb to address the cultural deficiencies, rebuild confidence and restore credibility” in the PSNI.
