Catholic police officers in Northern Ireland have been advised to bring their personal protection weapons to church following a major data breach, a Commons committee has been told.
Superintendent Gerry Murray—head of the Catholic Police Guild of Northern Ireland—told MPs he issued the advice to nationalist officers whose security fears have been heightened since last month’s data blunder.
The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) apologised after the details of 10,800 officers and staff were published online in error.
Names and ranks of officers were exposed after a spreadsheet was mistakenly posted to a public Freedom of Information (FOI) website causing a crisis within the force.
On Monday, PSNI Chief Constable Simon Byrne resigned with immediate effect following weeks of controversies following the breach, which is set to cost the organisation millions of pounds.
On Tuesday, representatives from various policing organisations gave evidence to the Northern Ireland Affairs committee on the security impact of the data gaffe.
Speaking to MPs, Mr. Murray said Catholic officers were more likely to keep their professions a secret from their families and communities, and the potential for identification caused some members to ask if they should carry protection weapons when attending mass.
“We have had officers, resigning, going from the organisation. Our members are frightened, scared, have no idea what tomorrow will bring for them,” he told the committee.
“And I have incidents where young Catholic officers are asking me: do they carry their personal protection weapon when they go to Mass?”
He added: “That has happened, and the advice I’ve given: yes, you do.
Dismayed and Scared
Mr. Murray said that the security pressure stemming from the data breach, combined with budgetary constraints, would limit the PSNI’s ability to recruit Catholic officers.He said: “I would fear, given the length of service I have been in this organisation, that we will have a major difficulty.
“Probably we will survive with regards to retention, but with regards to recruitment, if you look at the last census in 2021, there it’s something like 45 or 47 percent Catholic.
“Well, that should be the bar which the police service of Northern Ireland should be adhering to.”
The PSNI Superintendent said that police recruiting posters have been defaced in nationalist areas.
He added: “Already there is this propaganda starting and we’re starting from zero now, there is no recruitment. There’s no budget for recruitment.”
Liam Kelly, chairman of the Police Federation of Northern Ireland (PFNI) that represents more than 6,000 rank-and-file PSNI officers, said their members felt betrayed by their information being leaked from the inside.
“Despite 25 years on from the Good Friday Agreement, we still find that we’re having to police in Northern Ireland against the backdrop of a severe terrorist threat, both on-and off-duty,” he said.
“So you ask what the impact has been of the data breach from my members and from my own perspective, we’re appalled and we’re shocked, we’re dismayed, and we’re scared about the implications about what has happened.”
Mr. Kelly said all officers take their personal protection “very seriously” and many feel “betrayed” it is their employer who put their personal information into the public domain.
“We also have a number of officers, whether that be because of their community background or because of the role they’re performing in PSNI, whether that be intelligence, surveillance, are feeling very vulnerable around this,” he said.
“Again, we’re in a uniquely hazardous position as police officers in Northern Ireland, and it takes a lot of courage to be a police officer in Northern Ireland.”
Funding Crisis
The PSNI is facing a funding gap of £141 million after the province’s most recent budget was set by Secretary of State Chris Heaton-Harris, due to the absence of a functioning government.Detective Chief Superintendent Anthony McNally, president of the Police Superintendents’ Association of Northern Ireland (SANI), said continuing fallout from the data breach would put further financial strain on the force.
“The reason why we’re not recruiting is because we don’t have a budget to recruit,” he said.
“We are now going to spend … millions, tens of millions of pounds, to fix the challenges of this data breach,” he said.
Mr. McNally said a large number of officers have requested personal security measures which will run to “tens of millions of pounds.”
“And then there’s litigation, there are people who quite rightly feel that their information has been put into the public domain against the law, frankly, and they will seek the remuneration for that,” he added.
“So that creates a huge challenge for us in terms of how can we recruit, but not only then how can we recruit, but how can we continue to sustain the current delivery model.”
Former PSNI Chief Constable Simon Byrne was due to give evidence to the committee, but did not, following his resignation on Monday in response to a string of controversies, including the data breach.
A critical High Court judgment issued last week which ruled the disciplining of two officers following an arrest at a Troubles memorial event in Belfast in 2021 was unlawful, put further pressure on his position.
Unfit For Purpose
Also appearing before Tuesday’s committee was Assistant Chief Constable Chris Todd, who rejected suggestions that the force is not fit for purpose following the rows which led to the chief constable’s resignation.Committee chairman Simon Hoare said: “In recent days there has been a picture painted of the PSNI of tribal and feudal War of the Roses-type antagonisms between senior officers where the buck has been passed from one to the other and scapegoating has been attempted.
“It would lead the layman to think that the PSNI is not fit for purpose.”
Mr. Todd replied: “I don’t recognise an organisation that is at war with itself. I don’t recognise that in the senior leadership team.
“I have sat in rooms with the rest of the executive team having very collegiate, supportive conversations on how we can lead the organisation forward through difficult times while that narrative is being played out elsewhere.”
SDLP member Claire Hanna asked Mr. Kelly if he had concerns about political interference in policing, following last week’s High Court ruling.
Mr. Kelly said: “I would be amazed if it is not there. The reason we took the judicial review against the chief constable was that that is what we suspected.”
He added: “It is not just political pressure from parties within Northern Ireland, there is also information that would suggest our Department of Justice was involved in conversations, the Irish government was potentially involved in conversations as well.”
Earlier in the meeting, Mr. Hoare said the Policing Board in Northern Ireland should be in no doubt that it will have to answer questions before MPs about the controversies which have rocked the PSNI.
The committee is investigating the PSNI data breach, and representatives of the Policing Board, the oversight body for the force, had been expected to appear before MPs on Tuesday.
However, the board withdrew from the hearing following Mr. Byrne’s resignation.
The committee also heard that Deputy Chief Constable Mark Hamilton, who is currently leading the organisation, will appear at crisis meeting of the Police Federation on Wednesday where rank-and-file officers are due to air their concerns over recent events.
