The Minister for Foreign Affairs Mr Dermot Ahern , T.D. paid tribute to the Northern Ireland Police Ombudsman Nuala O'Loan

The Minister for Foreign Affairs Mr Dermot Ahern T.D. paid a strong tribute to the Northern Ireland Police Ombudsman Nuala O'Loan who steps down today after seven years in the post.

The Minister underlined the crucial role which Ms O'Loan has played in establishing the Office of the Ombudsman as a central part of the policing reforms proposed by the Patten Commission. "She has achieved an extraordinary amount as Northern Ireland's first Police Ombudsman, not least in helping to win overwhelming cross-community support for policing, an essential building block in the peace process".

The Minister said that Ms O'Loan "has shown enormous dedication and great personal courage throughout her time as Ombudsman and her work has played a very important role in laying the groundwork for the breakthroughs in the full endorsement of policing, and progress at the political level. The new realities of life in Northern Ireland owe much to people like Nuala O'Loan who has made a real practical and positive difference."

The Minster wished Nuala, her husband Declan and their family all the best in the future.

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Press

5/11/07