Chief constable predicts IRA move

Northern Ireland Chief Constable Sir Ronnie Flanagan has said that a second act of IRA decommissioning could be imminent.

He was speaking on Monday afternoon at a news conference at Stormont following weeks of intense speculation that the republican group is preparing to dispose of some of its weapons.

Sir Ronnie said: "If it happens, I think it will be yet another positive step forward.

"I think that it is likely to happen and that it will be yet another step along that road to normality.

Sir Ronnie Flanagan is to retire at the end of this week

"That is a road we all want to tread.

"The Police Service of Northern Ireland will continue to do its very best to take us along that road."

The news conference followed Sir Ronnie's final official meeting with Northern Ireland Secretary John Reid, before he retires from the Police Service of Northern Ireland at the end of this week.

Looking back on his career, Sir Ronnie said that there had been highs and lows and that he was "grossly embarrassed" by the security breach at Belfast's main police headquarters.

Files were taken from a Special Branch informers liaison room at the centre in Castlereagh.

Special Branch deals with intelligence work, some relating to informers, and has an anti-terrorism role in Northern Ireland.

The possibility that the gang who broke in had insider help is one of the lines inquiry being investigated.

'Mistakes were made'

Sir Ronnie admitted that over the years both he and the police as an organisation had made mistakes.

But he said he had done his best to serve all of the people.

Asked if he felt that in spite of a successful career, his service had ended under a cloud, Sir Ronnie said he wondered at times "who was writing the script".

Earlier this year, Sir Ronnie became embroiled in a public row with Northern Ireland Police Ombudsman Nuala O'Loan over her report on the police investigation into the Omagh bombing.

Ms O'Loan's report criticised the police response to informer warnings about dissident republican activity before the blast and the subsequent handling of the investigation.

Sir Ronnie hit back and called the report flawed and peppered with inaccuracies.

The two officers said after the comments that they would continue to work together.

But the row was seen as damaging to Sir Ronnie's reputation.