The PSNI and the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland, Mrs Nuala O'Loan, are to examine the Morris report to determine if they should initiate their own inquiries relating to the bogus arms find in Strabane more than 10 years ago.
Mrs O'Loan said yesterday that a police accountability system similar to her Ombudsman's office could "only be of benefit" to the Garda and society generally in the Republic.
"I have observed accountability systems throughout the world and independent systems can only be of benefit to any jurisdiction including the Republic," she told The Irish Times yesterday.
Mrs O'Loan said she would examine the Morris report in detail but could not say at this stage whether she would be carrying out investigations into the RUC IRA arms find in Strabane in 1993, which transpired to have been bogus and planted at the behest of Supt Kevin Lennon and Det Garda Noel McMahon.
A spokeswoman for the PSNI made a similar point. "The PSNI will examine the Morris report to see if it will shed any new light on any crime that was committed in Northern Ireland. If it would help to solve that crime we will take any appropriate further steps," she said.
The fallout from the report would not damage Garda-PSNI relations, she indicated. "We will also consult with out colleagues in An Garda Síochána (on the Strabane arms find), continuing the close relationship we have had for many years," the spokeswoman added.
Mrs O'Loan said she had no intention of interfering in policing matters pertinent to the Republic but that there was no doubt that the creations of the Ombudsman's office had benefited society and policing "enormously" in Northern Ireland.
Having an independent system in the North and the expertise to operate the office had helped improve policing and public confidence in the Police Service of Northern Ireland, she said.
She said since she was appointed 3½ years ago there had been a dramatic improvement in police practices. For instance the incidence of police using excessive force against the public had dropped significantly over that period.
It cost £7 million to run the office. She had a staff of 128, some 80 of whom were investigators. About six of these were former RUC or PSNI members, others were seconded from British police forces, or were former police officers who had served in the Commonwealth, the US and other countries, while about 40 had no previous police experience but had investigative experience in Customs and Excise, or were graduates trained to be investigators.
