Flanagan steps down from North police force

Sir Ronnie Flanagan was today spending his final day as chief constable of Northern Ireland's new police service.

Sir Ronnie Flanagan was today spending his final day as chief constable of Northern Ireland's new police service.

A PSNI spokesman said Sir Ronnie was expected to pay one last visit to his office in police headquarters in east Belfast and hold a number of courtesy meetings with colleagues.

Earlier this week, Sir Ronnie admitted to having mixed feelings about leaving the PSNI.

"Obviously you don't give 32 years of your life to a job and walk away from it without some feelings of poignancy," he said.

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"But having said that, I'm looking forward to a new job, a totally different challenge and I have every confidence that PSNI will go on from strength to strength."

Sir Ronnie will be leaving just days before the first batch of recruits to the new police service graduate.

In the wake of the Belfast Agreement, Sir Ronnie oversaw reforms designed to attract more Catholics and nationalists into a new-look police service. The RUC had been regarded as overwhelmingly Protestant.

The outgoing Chief Constable also leaves having come through a bitter battle with police ombudsman Mrs Nuala O'Loan over the Omagh bomb investigation. Mrs O'Loan accused Sir Ronnie and his officers of being guilty of defective leadership and poor judgment.

Sir Ronnie, in turn, accused Mrs O'Loan and her team of conducting a less than rigourous investigation.

But in a bid to put the row behind him this week, the outgoing Chief Constable said: "Of course we have had a lot of very real difficulties in recent times but that's not new in this part of the world.

"If in that sense my going means some of the problems brought about by those difficulties go with me, then all for the good."

PA