North’s police chief angers nationalists with provocative photograph

Sinn Féin and the SDLP have demanded an explanation from the North's Chief Constable after he shared a photograph of himself with police officers armed with automatic weapons outside Crossmaglen police station in Co Armagh on Christmas Day.

Simon Byrne tweeted: "On Christmas morning great to meet the team policing Crossmaglen @PSNINMDown I take my hat off to colleagues policing such a unique part of @PoliceServiceNI Their sense of duty and optimism is inspiring. Stay safe and thank you."

Sinn Féin MLA Conor Murphy said the post was "offensive to the local community and utterly unacceptable" and had "only served to further undermine the public confidence in the PSNI within south Armagh".

He called for “immediate answers” from Mr Byrne, and said the “heavily armed officers posing with the Chief Constable is reflective of the militaristic style of policing that the community in south Armagh has had to endure in recent years. This community is no different to any other. Any attempt to differentiate the style of policing has not and will not be tolerated.”

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In a statement, the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) said "the Chief Constable is happy to meet with any community or political representative who has a positive contribution to make about local policing matters".

SDLP Cllr Pete Byrne said he has sought an "urgent meeting" with the Chief Constable.

“While many families across south Armagh were waking up, opening presents and enjoying their Christmas morning, they were hurt and offended to see a Twitter post from the PSNI Chief Constable featuring officers with heavy weaponry on show,” he said.

“This isn’t an ill judged tweet, the wording appears to be a deliberate attempt to set Crossmaglen and south Armagh as a place apart.”

Much work had been done to build community relations in the area, he said, and “language and images like this flies in the face of the positive work that has been achieved”.

He also said he was "keen to highlight what purpose militarised barracks in Crossmaglen and Newtownhamilton now serves in 2019."

Gardaí juxtaposed Mr Byrne’s image with one of their own showing officers looking on while children visited Santa in his grotto. It said: “Slightly different theme from the neighbour’s Twitter feed this Christmas. We are all doing the same job, just facing different challenges.”

– Additional reporting PA