SINN Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald says she has “nothing to apologise for” after controversial comments in opposition to any current police commander in the north succeeding the Chief Constable.
Current Chief Constable George Hamilton retires from the role in June.
On Monday, Ms McDonald was speaking after meeting families in Belfast, days after controversy over the police’s failure to disclose documents relating to a loyalist mass shooting at Sean Graham bookmakers on the Ormeau Road.
"Is there somebody inside who I think should be the Chief Constable, and I have to answer honestly that no, I can't identify such a person,” she said.
"Lots of this is about who leads, who is in the top job in policing, but it goes much more broad than that.
"This is an issue of the culture of policing, it's about the systems and it's about their capacity to be and to be held fully accountable."
Addressing the media in Dublin on Tuesday, the Sinn Féin leader said: “There’s nothing to apologise for, there’s no retraction to be made.
“On the issue of the Chief Constable I have no role in the appointment of a Chief Constable.
“I was asked could I identify someone from the senior team who I thought ought to be Chief Constable and the truth is I can’t.”
In response, the Police Federation for Northern Ireland described her comments as "wholly inappropriate and offensive".
Her comments were also criticised by other political parties.
The DUP’s Mervyn Storey said he had written to the Policing Board seeking legal advice about Ms McDonald’s comments.
SDLP policing and justice spokesperson Dolores Kelly hit out at the “flippant remarks”.
She said: “For many years people have campaigned hard for equality and fairness in employment in Northern Ireland; campaigning that risks being undermined by Sinn Féin coming along and essentially stating that ‘PSNI officers need not apply’ in an attempt to catch a headline.
“It is staggering that after undermining the credibility of potential candidates for the Chief Constable role, only mere hours later, Ms McDonald was addressing a group of civic unionists on the topic of reconciliation at Queen’s University Belfast. Sinn Féin must stop speaking out of both sides of their mouth.
“No-one can defend the recent scandal of the PSNI failing to disclose information to the Police Ombudsman regarding the Sean Graham bookmakers mass shooting, and the major systemic issues relating to the handling of legacy by the PSNI. However, the SDLP, unlike Sinn Féin, have legally based and rigorous proposals to improve PSNI recruitment and legacy inquiries and disclosure. Sinn Féin should reflect on how these ill-thought-out soundbites are damaging years of genuine hard-won equality.”
