The DUP has reacted angrily to a reported suggestion by the Policing Board's vice-chairman that former paramilitary prisoners should be allowed to join the Policing Service of Northern Ireland.
Mr Denis Bradley, is thought to have held a meeting with a republican ex-prisoners' umbrella group, Coiste na nIarchimí, on the subject three months ago. According to the Sunday Times, the former mediator between the IRA and British intelligence said he could see no reason why released prisoners could join District Police Partnership Boards or even the North's devolved administration but not the PSNI.
Describing the proposal as "madness", a DUP member of the Policing Board, Mr Sammy Wilson, yesterday accused Mr Bradley of having become a spokesman for republican demands to legitimise paramilitaries' position in society.
"Clearly he is totally at odds with what the Policing Board is all about - namely effective, impartial and accountable policing - and ought to resign his post," Mr Wilson said.
"During the referendum, the DUP predicted that the day would come when those who had terrorised our country would be policing it. It is now clear that this is the next concession to be demanded by IRA/Sinn Féin," Mr Wilson added.
Mr Bradley could not be contacted for comment last night.
Meanwhile, the former Chief Constable, Sir Ronnie Flanagan, was speaking on the BBC's Breakfast With Frost programme about the Castlereagh break-in.
Commenting on the fact that around 200 Special Branch officers had had to have their personal security stepped up as a result of the theft of confidential documents containing their personal details from Castlereagh police station, Sir Ronnie said that while the development was "not good news", it would "not lead to a sense of panic" within the service.