The Minister for Foreign Affairs Mr Dermot Ahern, T.D. pays tribute to the former Northern Ireland Police Ombudsman Nuala O'Loan
The Minister for Foreign Affairs Mr Dermot Ahern T.D. hosted a
lunch in Dundalk for the former Northern Ireland Police Ombudsman
Nuala O'Loan who stepped down in November after seven years in the
post.
The Minister paid tribute to the crucial role which Ms O'Loan
played in establishing the Office of the Ombudsman as a central
part of the policing reforms proposed by the Patten Commission.
“She achieved an extraordinary amount as Northern Ireland's first
Police Ombudsman, not least in winning overwhelming cross-community
support for policing, an essential building block in the peace
process”.
The Minister said that Ms O'Loan “showed 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 Minister wished Nuala, her husband Declan and their family all
the best in the future.
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Press
29/01/08
