A SPECIAL meeting of the Police Authority for Northern Ireland in Belfast yesterday endorsed the decisions made by the Chief Constable, Sir Hugh Annesley, during the Drumcree crisis.
After Sir Hugh addressed the three hour meeting and answered detailed questions, the PANI chairman, Mr Pat Armstrong, said he was satisfied the RUC had acted even handedly at all times. If there were individual complaints by members of the public they would be investigated under the formal complaints procedures.
During the meeting, a PANI member, the Alliance Party chairman, Mr Sean Neeson, withdrew a motion of no confidence in Sir Hugh.
Before the meeting, Mr Neeson had been critical of his handling of events and suggested that neither the community nor the authority had confidence in him.
Mr Neeson had said the Chief Constable had made a decision, reversed it, "and then compounded it with other grave errors such as the imposition of what I consider martial law on the Ormeau Road".
After yesterday's meeting, attended by 13 of the 18 PANI members, Mr Neeson said that while he was not entirely satisfied - with Sir Hugh's explanation, the Chief Constable had agreed to meet him to elaborate further.
In the circumstances, Mr Neeson said, "I thought it inappropriate to proceed with the motion of no confidence." It was important at this critical juncture to restore confidence in policing.
Pressed as to specific reasons for his U turn, Mr Neeson said one issue that had impressed him was information given by Sir Hugh regarding the operation on the lower Ormeau Road.
The Chief Constable had explained there was a danger of the Twelfth parades throughout Northern Ireland being re routed through the Ormeau Road, and of nationalists congregating there.
Mr Neeson said of the Northern Secretary's statement that there might be other situations which the police could not contain: "That worries me."
Mr Armstrong said in a statement responsibility for the situation which arose did not lie with the Chief Constable. It rested, squarely "with those who perpetrated, orchestrated or failed sufficiently to condemn the violence".
He said: "Politicians, parade organisers and those who are seeking to avert them must all share responsibility for what happened."
Mr Armstrong announced PANI had decided "to consult widely in the community about the parades issue". It would urge the Northern Secretary "to quickly set in train a review of the current arrangements for handling contentious parades".
Was there anything that the Chief Constable had said that he was not satisfied with? "No," said Mr Armstrong.