Interviews for the post of PSNI chief constable will be held today in Belfast. A sub-committee of seven Policing Board members will hear from three candidates who have applied to replace Sir Ronnie Flanagan in the £130,000- a-year job.
Mr Colin Cramphorn, Sir Ronnie's deputy, has been acting in a caretaker role since April 1st when his boss left Belfast for Her Majesty's Inspectors of Constabulary.
The successful applicant, assuming the board chooses to recommend a name to the Northern Secretary, could become clear this evening.
Often referred to as the poison chalice of policing jobs, the new chief constable of the PSNI will be thankful Sir Ronnie guided the police service through the painful transition from the former RUC to the new PSNI with the loss of title, crest and uniform.
But the new chief's challenges include daunting problems from the Omagh investigation and other controversies to the Castlereagh break-in to a host of other problems including parades, dissident paramilitaries and low morale within depleted police ranks.
A new power structure is in place which differs vastly from the set up which saw the old RUC through much of the Troubles. Now one of the most politically accountable police services around, the PSNI is scrutinised by the 19-member Policing Board and by a Police Ombudsman with substantial resources.
The controversy surrounding Mrs Nuala O'Loan's criticisms of the Omagh bombing investigation and the police response to it has shown that the new three-way relationship has yet to settle down. Soundings from some Policing Board members display an appetite for an approach more in keeping with the new reality than was the case under Sir Ronnie.
The Northern Secretary, who ultimately holds many of the cards, has shown himself to be only too pleased to stand by Policing Board decisions. Since last November, Dr John Reid had been expecting to step into potentially explosive disputes concerning a new police crest, the Omagh inquiry and the timing of Sir Ronnie's retirement.
But the fledgling board found its feet early and handled these deftly without the need to refer them to Stormont Castle.
Dr Reid has made clear his wish to see justice powers devolved to Stormont within the next few years and it is just feasible that some time in the lifetime of the next Executive, a minister of justice will be appointed.
Sinn Féin continues to decline its seats on the board, insisting that more needs to be done to ensure an acceptable start to new policing. But Mr Gerry Adams's determination concerning this tactic is matched only by the near certainty among nationalist board members that Sinn Féin's arrival at the board cannot be too far away.
Chris Albiston
An assistant chief constable, Mr Albiston has only recently returned from Kosovo where he had been seconded to serve as commissioner of police with the United Nations international police force there.
He has been head of the PSNI in the region which includes Omagh. Senior officers regard him highly.
A graduate of Oxford, Mr Albiston joined London's Metropolitan police service in 1975. He worked in a specialist capacity for Scotland Yard and has investigated gang warfare in the British capital. He joined the former RUC in 1989.
Alan McQuillan
An assistant chief constable with responsibility for greater Belfast, Mr McQuillan is the only local candidate.
He has been to the fore over his handling of the Holy Cross dispute and the wider disorder in north Belfast. He swore an affidavit which contradicts the official police response to Nuala O'Loan's criticisms of the Omagh inquiry.
He is a graduate of Queen's University Belfast and the University of Ulster. He joined the RUC in 1976 and has served as assistant chief constable with the police service in Gwent, Wales.
Hugh Orde
A deputy assistant commissioner with the Metropolitan Police, Mr Orde has day-to-day charge of the Stevens inquiry into the killing of solicitor Pat Finucane. Coincidentally, Sir Ronnie Flanagan now has oversight powers for the Mets, the same force that has provided Mr Orde to investigate Sir Ronnie's force and its handling of the controversial killing.
Mr Orde has 25 years experience with the London force and has his reputation enhanced by his work on a spate of killings by Jamaican hitmen across the the city.