Former Chief Constable's resignation was 'right thing to do': McNulty

​Mr. McNulty said: “Policing in Northern Ireland is in a very difficult place right now.

"Successive crises have left confidence in the Chief Constable undermined from all directions.

"His resignation was the right thing to do and was necessary to begin to address the serious issues facing the PSNI.

“Over the last month our primary interest has been safeguarding and supporting officers put at risk by the data breach.

"Now it must move to saving the new beginning to policing that so many took risks to secure.

"That includes addressing significant concerns about the erosion of confidence in the Policing Board as the body charged with holding the PSNI to account.”

He continued: “Simon Byrne reached the unavoidable conclusion that confidence in him as Chief Constable was beyond repair.

"Questions over his tenure had become a distraction that was preventing serious attention on the institutional issues that must be addressed within the PSNI.

"The resignation of one individual will not address those issues alone.

“There are still questions to be answered surrounding political influence over policing, and it is important that any future Chief Constable is above political interference.

“Governance, recruitment and retention, including a return to 50:50 recruitment, along with addressing the challenges in policing with the community and restoring confidence in the PSNI must now be the focus.”