Clarity needed over police ombudsman claims, says O'Neill

Clarity is needed from the government over claims that the former police ombudsman for Northern Ireland was appointed despite security service concerns, Michelle O'Neill has said.

The first minister described speculation about the allegations, which were made by DUP leader Gavin Robinson about Marie Anderson's appointment in 2019, as "unhelpful".

Anderson was appointed to the job by the former Conservative government seven years ago, at a time when devolution at Stormont was stalled.

The claim emerged on Monday during a debate about the wider security vetting controversy in Westminster surrounding former US ambassador Peter Mandelson.

The government has already committed that a review of the vetting process will include the circumstances around Anderson's appointment.

BBC News NI has also attempted to contact Anderson. She has indicated she will not be making any comment.

The first and deputy first ministers were asked about the claim on Tuesday as they launched the second phase of the executive's strategy aimed at ending violence against women and girls in Northern Ireland.

O'Neill said it was for the government to make clear the process it followed at the time Anderson was appointed and said no party in Northern Ireland had been involved in it.

"There's been a lot of speculation and I don't think that's helpful for the individual involved or anybody involved in the process," she said.

"So the sooner there's clarity that would be a better place for us to reach, as opposed to feeding speculation whenever people perhaps have half of the truth."

Emma Little-Pengelly, the DUP deputy first minister, said the matter highlighted serious concerns about a high-profile and sensitive public appointment.

"We need to get to the truth of this, if there is truth in that allegation then that needs to come forward and needs to be investigated fully," she said.

"That vetting is there to ensure that those people with access to high-level information have the appropriate clearances, so yes we need to get those answers urgently."

Anderson retired from her role as police ombudsman in December.

Much of her tenure was overshadowed by a two-year police investigation related to a domestic incident at her home that resulted in no prosecutions.

Speaking in the Commons using Parliamentary privilege on Monday, Robinson said it was "incredible to learn that in Northern Ireland, a political appointment was made following the refusal to clear an individual for security access".

He told MPs they "continued in their post, engaged on issues connected with the legacy of our troubled past with full security clearance, despite security service concerns".

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer told the DUP leader he would ensure a review of the vetting process "covers all the relevant issues".

O'Neill also criticised the prime minister for his handling of the wider vetting controversy in London and said there were "serious questions of judgement" for Starmer about why he had ever appointed Mandelson to a high-ranking diplomat role, given his links to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Starmer has said officials made a "deliberate decision" not to tell him that Mandelson had failed security vetting.