Jerry Buttimer (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

We welcomed, collectively, in this Chamber, the Lord Mayor of Belfast, Senator Ó Donnghaile's party colleague, who gave a very impressive contribution here. Let me make it clear that I do not come with any dimension other than open-mindedness but Senator Ó Donnghaile's party has a one-dimensional view.

I will challenge Senator Ó Donnghaile on this. The Senator's own party colleague, Mr. Gerry Kelly MLA, stated in contradiction of Senator Ó Donnghaile's party leader, that there were people within the PSNI who were capable of the job. Mr. Kelly stated that Senator Ó Donnghaile's party leader did not know the top brass of the PSNI. In terms of policing, if we have learned nothing from the mistakes of the Troubles or if we learned nothing from the mistakes that we made down here, there is no place for political involvement in policing. It should be independent and devoid of political interference. Senator Ó Donnghaile's own party is against political policing.