Unionist politicians challenge PSNI on footage of officers ‘celebrating’ GAA win

Unionist politicians in Northern Ireland have challenged police chiefs over an incident in which police appeared to join in celebrations after Armagh won the all-Ireland Gaelic football championships.

The PSNI has launched an internal investigation after video footage emerged that appeared to show police vehicles driving through the village of Camlough sounding their sirens as people cheer from the footpaths.

Fans pass an Armagh flag to one of the vehicles and the driver holds it out of the window and drives on.

The DUP, UUP and TUV have all raised concerns, both from a road safety perspective and on issues around impartiality.

However, an SDLP MLA has described it as a “storm in a teacup”.

Unionists have also raised concerns about footage showing Armagh flags erected around Lurgan police station.

The incidents unfolded in the wake of Armagh’s dramatic one-point victory over Galway in Croke Park on Sunday afternoon to seal the county’s second ever all-Ireland men’s senior football title.

DUP leader Gavin Robinson spoke to PSNI Chief Constable Jon Boutcher on Monday morning, while TUV leader Jim Allister has reported the incident in Camlough to the Police Ombudsman watchdog.

Commenting on his conversation with Mr Boutcher, Mr Robinson said: “He is in no doubt of the need to reaffirm confidence in the PSNI’s impartiality, integrity and professional standards.

“They weren’t on display last night in Camlough and questions remain about events at Lurgan PSNI station.”

DUP MP Carla Lockhart and MLAs Trevor Clarke, Keith Buchanan and Cheryl Brownlee met with Assistant Chief Constable Bobby Singleton at police headquarters in east Belfast on Monday afternoon.

Mr Clarke insisted the delegation “were not there to tell police how to do their jobs”, but relay “genuine concerns”.

“We’re not here to tell police how to do their jobs, other political parties in the past have done that. We’re very careful just to make our points in terms of the erratic driving and the manner in which the car was driven round and round the roundabout,” he said.

“We also made the point, is it fair game now for everyone to use police stations to hang whatever flags, banners, whatever they wish without any interference from the PSNI.

“We have had an assurance from police that clearly that is not the position and police stations shouldn’t be used for such, so we look forward, hopefully, in the future to police taking action in relation to those.”

He added: “We don’t want to pre-empt what police will do, other than to say they told us that professional standards are looking at this. We respect the officers involved in this have a process to go through and professional standards have a process to go through, so we’ll await the outcome of that.

“But if this was a member of the public that drove their car in that manner, what would police do? We all expect police to uphold a higher standard than any member of the public.”

Ms Lockhart added: “On the ground in my constituency in Lurgan where some of the incidents took place, there is real concern amongst the unionist community around impartiality and neutrality, and I think the police have a job of work to do to ensure that they address that on the ground.”

UUP leader Doug Beattie described the incident in Camlough as “naive and reckless”.

“I have already engaged with the Chief Constable and I’m confident this will be addressed,” he said.

Mr Allister described the scenes involving officers in Camlough as a “disgraceful display”.

“They can be seen driving through the village, waving GAA flags in a fashion which could best be described as joyriding while using the siren improperly,” he said.

“Loyalists are often challenged about why we talk about two-tier policing. (On Sunday night) we see evidence of this in bright lights.

“Independent policing has gone out the window and the PSNI has destroyed any pretence of being a balanced force.”

SDLP Newry and Armagh MLA Justin McNulty said he did not feel like the scenes depicted in the clips breached impartiality.

“It’s a storm in a teacup. While there is no condoning careless driving, the clip I saw, I thought brilliant, fair play,” he told the BBC.

“We’re talking about moving forward, that was a huge indicator of moving forward as a society. For a police force to be truly reflective of the community they represent, why not wave an Armagh flag.

“For the feelgood aspect of this success, people should see the bigger picture, see the joy in the hearts of people here, children in such joyous form. Nothing can take away from that.”

In a statement, PSNI district commander for Newry, Mourne and Down, Superintendent Norman Haslett, said: “We are aware of footage circulating on social media of our officers, driving Police Service of Northern Ireland vehicles, taking part in celebrations following Armagh winning the all-Ireland final.

“We have commenced an internal investigation into the circumstances surrounding this.”

Meanwhile, police are treating two arson attacks on vehicles painted in Armagh colours as sectarian-related hate crimes.

The lorry and car were painted orange and white and parked on roadsides ahead of Sunday’s showpiece final.

At around 1.35am on Monday, police received a report that the lorry was on fire in the Markethill Road area of Armagh close to Mullaghbrack GAA club.

Less than an hour later, at around 2.25am, it was reported that the car was on fire around six miles away on the Ballymacnab Road.

It is understood officers are not linking the two incidents, which they are treating as sectarian-related hate crimes and arson.

SDLP councillor Thomas O’Hanlon posted images of the burned vehicles on social media on Monday.

He said he was “disgusted and heartbroken”.

“Every single right-thinking person will condemn this,” he said, insisting the incidents are not reflective of the local community who “work together for the betterment of everyone”.

He added: “They will be united in the condemnation of this.”