The chair of the Northern Ireland Policing Board is delaying his return to office until a police investigation into his involvement in a Belfast land deal is completed.
Barry Gilligan, who was expected back at his desk next week after recovering from major heart surgery, announced his decision today after officers searched his south Belfast home and board office.
"It had been my intention to return to my role as chairman before the end of the summer but in light of the recent activity by the PSNI, my coronary condition and the dignity of the office of chairman of the Northern Ireland Policing Board, I feel that I should not return to the role at this time," he said.
Police are investigating a land deal involving Mr Gilligan's property company, Big Picture Developments, which owns a site at Nelson Street. Detectives were called in five months ago by the Northern Ireland Housing
Executive to investigate its role at a site in Nelson Street, Belfast, owned by the company.
The police, in a statement issued late last night, confirmed it had carried out a search at Policing Board headquarters at Clarendon Dock and at other addresses but would not confirm that the home of Mr Gilligan was among them.
“Searches have been conducted in Belfast as part of an investigation into matters concerning development land at Nelson Street. A number of items have been removed for examination from an office and a house,” the PSNI said in a statement. “Police inquiries are continuing.”
Mr Gilligan, a property developer from Co Fermanagh, has been chairman of the Policing Board since the retirement of Sir Desmond Rea in May 2009. He has been on leave from the board since February this year because of illness and has undergone successful heart surgery.
The Policing Board was established under the recommendations of the Patten commission, which called for the establishment of the PSNI. It comprises 18 members, nine of which are political representatives from the main political parties, including Sinn Féin, which joined the board in 2007. The remainder of members are drawn from a cross-section of public life.