Law lecturer appointed to post of police ombudsman in North

A Senior law lecturer and Police Authority member, Ms Nuala O'Loan, has been appointed to the "high profile and sensitive" post of independent police ombudsman for Northern Ireland. Her office will replace the Independent Commission for Police Complaints (ICPC).

Ms O'Loan will formally take up the £75,000-a-year position next summer and in the meantime will act as police ombudsman-designate.

She will use the intervening period to establish her office and appoint staff, which will include a team of investigators to deal with complaints against the police.

The new office follows from recommendations by Dr Maurice Hayes in his review of the police complaints system in Northern Ireland.

Ms O'Loan will have more powers than the ICPC in that her own staff will carry out investigations. Previously, it was RUC officers who investigated complaints against fellow officers under the ICPC's direction.

Ms O'Loan is a native of Bishop's Stortford in Hertfordshire. She has lived in Northern Ireland since 1976. She is married to the SDLP councillor Mr Declan O'Loan. They have five sons and live in Ballymena, Co Antrim.

She is a committed Catholic, on the liberal wing of the church, writing occasionally for publications such as the Tablet and the Furrow.

She is also a marriage counsellor, a voluntary lay visitor to police stations, and is chairwoman of the Northern Ireland Consumer Committee for Electricity. She has served on several other bodies and committees.

She is to dedicate herself full time to her new seven-year post and is in the process of resigning from her law lecturing position at the University of Ulster, and from the Police Authority and the electricity consumer committee.

Ms O'Loan applied for the position, which was re-advertised at the end of last year and was appointed yesterday by the North's security minister, Mr Adam Ingram. He said the post was "high profile and sensitive", requiring a person of "outstanding ability".

"Following a rigorous selection process, the Secretary of State and I interviewed Mrs O'Loan and were impressed by her strong record of public and voluntary service, her legal background, personal integrity and wide knowledge of policing issues in Northern Ireland. We know that she will do an excellent job." When the post was originally advertised, the British government did not find the candidates suitable. Ms O'Loan did not apply at that time.

While Ms O'Loan is married to a nationalist politician and comes from a Catholic background, she believes she will win the confidence of both unionists and nationalists.

"I want all police officers to know that my investigations will be robust but they will be fair," she said yesterday.