The Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) was the police force in Northern Ireland from 1922 to 2001. It was founded on 1 June 1922 as a successor to the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) following the partition of Ireland. At its peak the force had around 8,500 officers,with a further 4,500 who were members of the RUC Reserve.
The Omagh bombing was a car bombing on 15 August 1998 in the town of Omagh in County Tyrone,Northern Ireland. It was carried out by the Real Irish Republican Army,a Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) splinter group who opposed the IRA's ceasefire and the Good Friday Agreement,signed earlier in the year. The bombing killed 29 people and injured about 220 others,making it the deadliest incident of the Troubles in Northern Ireland. Telephoned warnings which did not specify the location had been sent almost forty minutes beforehand,and police inadvertently moved people toward the bomb.
The Police Service of Northern Ireland,is the police service responsible for law enforcement and the prevention of crime within Northern Ireland.
Sir Hugh Stephen Roden Orde,is a retired British police officer who was the president of the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO),representing the 44 police forces of England,Wales and Northern Ireland. Between 2002 and 2009,he was the Chief Constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI).
Jean McConville was a woman from Belfast,Northern Ireland,who was kidnapped and murdered by the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) and secretly buried in County Louth in the Republic of Ireland in 1972 after being accused by the IRA of passing information to British forces.
The Belfast Harbour Police is a small,specialised ports police force,with responsibility for the Port of Belfast,Northern Ireland. It was founded in 1847,making it the oldest continuously-operating law enforcement agency on the island of Ireland.
Sir Ronald Flanagan is a retired senior Northern Irish police officer. He was the Home Office Chief Inspector of Constabulary for the United Kingdom excluding Scotland. Sir Ronnie was previously the Chief Constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) since its creation in 2001 to 2002,and had been Chief Constable of its predecessor,the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) until 2001.
Carál NíChuilín,formerly known as Caroline Cullen,is an Irish Sinn Féin politician and former Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) volunteer serving as the Principal Deputy Speaker of the Northern Ireland Assembly since 2024. She has been a member of the Northern Ireland Assembly for Belfast North since 2007 and served in the Northern Ireland Executive as Minister of Culture,Arts and Leisure until 2016. On 15 June 2020,she was appointed Minister for Communities on a temporary basis,due to the health of the previous minister,Deirdre Hargey.
The Police Act 2000 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The act renamed the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) to the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI). It also created the Northern Ireland Policing Board and District Police Partnerships. The act was designed to gain cross-community support for law enforcement in Northern Ireland with several initiatives included in the act,including a change of oath of office and a 50:50 recruitment policy for Protestants and Roman Catholics.
The Headquarters Mobile Support Unit is the police tactical unit of the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI). The HMSU was originally formed in the then Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) part of RUC Special Branch and was involved in several controversial shootings during The Troubles.
James Gamble,is a British former police officer and head of Belfast region for the now disbanded RUC Special Branch.
Sir Matthew David Baggott,is a retired senior British police officer. He was Chief Constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland from 2009 to 2014.
The dissident Irish republican campaign began at the end of the Troubles,a 30-year political conflict in Northern Ireland. Since the Provisional Irish Republican Army called a ceasefire and ended its campaign in 1997,breakaway groups opposed to the ceasefire and to the peace agreements have continued a low-level armed campaign against the security forces in Northern Ireland. The main paramilitaries involved are the Real IRA,Continuity IRA and formerly Óglaigh na hÉireann. They have targeted the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) and the British Army in gun and bomb attacks as well as with mortars and rockets. They have also carried out bombings that are meant to cause disruption. However,their campaign has not been as intensive as the Provisional IRA's,and political support for groups such as the Real IRA is "tending towards zero".
Simon Byrne,is an English former senior police officer. He served as Chief Constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) from July 2019 until he resigned in September 2023. He was the Deputy Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police from 2009 to 2011 and the Assistant Commissioner for Territorial Policing in the Metropolitan Police Service from 2011 to 2014. He then served as Chief Constable of Cheshire Constabulary from 2014 to 2017.
Sir George Ernest Craythorne Hamilton is a Northern Ireland retired police officer. From 2014 to 2019,he served as the Chief Constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland. He was previously the Assistant Chief Constable with responsibility for rural policing.
Sir Robert Edward Graham Shillington CBE was a senior Northern Irish police officer. He served as Chief Constable of Royal Ulster Constabulary from 1970 to 1973.
Police Service of Northern Ireland GAA,also known as PSNI GAA,is a Gaelic Games club based in Northern Ireland. The club was set up in 2002 for members of the Police Service of Northern Ireland,with the intent to allow serving police officers to play Gaelic games following the abolition of Rule 21,which had prohibited them from doing so. They are based at Newforge Lane in Belfast alongside other teams affiliated with the RUC Athletic Association. They are affiliated with Antrim GAA and play in their Inter-Firms League. On 18 October 2019 they capped off their most successful year with a win of the Tom Langan trophy for the first time in their history.
Jeremy Andrew Harris,,is the current Commissioner of the Garda Síochána in the Republic of Ireland,having assumed office in September 2018. He previously served as Deputy Chief Constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) from 2014 to 2018.
Barbara Ann Gray is a senior police officer in the United Kingdom. Serving with the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) from 1989 onwards,she transferred to the Metropolitan Police in April 2021 as a Deputy Assistant Commissioner to fill a post left vacant by Lucy D'Orsi's appointment as Chief Constable of the British Transport Police,with her promotion to Assistant Commissioner (Professionalism) announced in September 2022.
Mark Hamilton OBE is a senior Northern Ireland police officer. He is currently serving as the Deputy Chief Constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland,and has done so since January 2020.
