Lmst

[16:12] Appeal for driver to come forward in search for Mayo man

Gardaí and the PSNI who are searching for missing 38-year-old Mayo man, George Brennan are anxious to speak to a van driver who may have seen him.

https://www.rte.ie/news/2025/0417/1508225-missing-mayo-man/

#PSNI #38_year_old #Mayo #GeorgeBrennan

[20:03] Man charged over alleged sexual offences in US

A 30-year-old man has been charged over alleged sexual offences in the US, the PSNI has said.

https://www.rte.ie/news/ulster/2025/0414/1507644-sexual-offences-us-psni/

#30_year_old #US #PSNI

[02:51] Underfunding of PSNI impacting on services, watchdog says

The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) needs to improve its crime prevention and offender management, according to a police watchdog.

https://www.rte.ie/news/ireland/2025/0402/1505350-psni-report/

#ThePoliceServiceofNorthernIreland #PSNI

[17:39] Police 'courage' praised after Tyrone house fire rescue

The PSNI has praised the "bravery" of officers who rescued four people from a house fire in Dungannon, Co Tyrone last night.

https://www.rte.ie/news/ulster/2025/0204/1494695-fire-dungannon/

#PSNI #four #Dungannon #CoTyrone #lastnight

Illegal police surveillance of journalists

Tribunal finds that police illegally spied on journalists

December 2024

Viewers of news programmes last evening (17 December) will have noticed journalists and David Davies MP standing outside the Royal Courts of Justice holding Amnesty signs saying ‘Journalism is not a Crime’. This was as a result of the Investigatory Powers Tribunal ruling that both the Police Service of Northern Ireland and the Metropolitan Police had acted unlawfully by spying on journalists during the Troubles*.

Journalism is an important part of our society and is sometimes the only means we have of getting some glimpse of the truth. Police actions in spying on journalists is to be deprecated. Two journalists, Trevor Birney and Barry McCaffrey produced a film called No Stone Unturned which documented the alleged collusion between the Police and the suspected murderers in the massacre which took place in Loughinisland in 1994. Six Catholic men were shot dead in the UVF attack, which was later found to involve collusion. In making enquiries to the PSNI this set off the surveillance operation in a bid to find the sources the journalists had relied on. It seemed relatively easy for the police at the time to acquire these orders.

‘Landmark case for press freedom‘ – Amnesty

Responding to a judgment from the Investigatory Powers Tribunal (IPT) which today ruled that the police acted unlawfully and breached the human rights of Northern Ireland journalists, Amnesty declared it a ‘landmark case for press freedom’.

The Investigatory Powers Tribunal, which is the only British court with statutory powers to investigate secret police surveillance, ruled that the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) and the Metropolitan Police Service unlawfully spied on the journalists in a bid to uncover their sources.

At the conclusion of a five-year investigation, the Tribunal found that the PSNI had repeatedly acted unlawfully, in breach of the European Convention of Human Rights and the Human Rights Act 1998. The unlawful behaviour reached all the way to the top of the PSNI with the then Chief Constable Sir George Hamilton being found by the Tribunal to have acted unlawfully by failing to “consider whether there was an overriding public interest justifying an interference with the integrity of a journalistic source” when he authorised a spying operation against an official at the Office of the Police Ombudsman of Northern Ireland.

There are increasing concerns about police and security service surveillance, which is becoming easier with new technology. Software can be placed on phones to intercept messages, whether the phone is switched on or not.

Sources: Amnesty International; Irish Times; Irish News; The Guardian

*The ‘Troubles’ were an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted for about 30 years from the late 1960s to 1998. Also known internationally as the Northern Ireland conflict, it began in the late 1960s and is usually deemed to have ended with the Good Friday Agreement of 1998. Although the Troubles mostly took place in Northern Ireland, at times violence spilled over into parts of the Republic of Ireland, England, and mainland Europe. (Wikipedia)

Recent posts:

#HumanRights_ #investigatoryPowersTribunal #journalism #MPs #NorthernIreland #police #PSNI #surveillance #Troubles

[16:44] Man interviewed by PSNI over alleged incident in Miami

An Armagh man has been interviewed by the PSNI as Miami police investigate an alleged incident during the team's recent trip to America.

https://www.rte.ie/news/ulster/2024/1211/1485940-miami-investigation-armagh/

#Armagh #PSNI #Miami #America

[15:48] Armagh GAA player interviewed by PSNI following alleged incident on team holiday in Miami

An Armagh man has been interviewed by the PSNI as Miami police investigate an alleged incident during the team’s recent trip to America.

https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/courts/armagh-gaa-player-interviewed-by-psni-following-alleged-incident-on-team-holiday-in-miami/a249299830.html

#Armagh #PSNI #Miami #America

[22:04] Police probing alleged ‘incident’ linked to Armagh GAA trip to USA after All-Ireland win

The PSNI is investigating an “incident” which is alleged to have taken place during a recent trip to the US by members of the All-Ireland winning Armagh football team.

https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/police-probing-alleged-incident-linked-to-armagh-gaa-trip-to-usa-after-all-ireland-win/a300019185.html

#PSNI #US #Armagh

[17:46] Katie Simpson investigation 'not rigorous enough' - PSNI

The PSNI has acknowledged deficiencies in its investigation into the murder of 21-year-old showjumper Katie Simpson.

https://www.rte.ie/news/ireland/2024/1112/1480559-psni-katie-simpson/

#PSNI #21_year_old #KatieSimpson

[08:44] PSNI launches action against 74 officers after bodycam arrest footage viewed ‘illegitimately’ nearly 250 times

The PSNI has launched action against 74 police officers after it was found that they had accessed body-worn video footage without a legitimate policing purpose for doing so.

https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/psni-launches-action-against-74-officers-after-bodycam-arrest-footage-viewed-illegitimately-nearly-250-times/a1865372472.html

#PSNI #74

[01:01] PSNI disciplines 74 officers over body cam footage access

The PSNI has taken action against 74 of its officers who inappropriately accessed body-worn camera footage.

https://www.rte.ie/news/ireland/2024/1031/1478295-psni-body-cam-footage/

#PSNI #74

[16:57] PSNI say damage of portrait being treated as hate crime

The PSNI says it is treating damage to a portrait of a former unionist mayor of Belfast as a hate crime.

https://www.rte.ie/news/2024/1028/1477860-portrait-hate-crime/

#PSNI #Belfast