The North's police ombudsman today backed decisions by police to fire plastic baton rounds to quell a number of riots in Northern Ireland.
Mrs O'Loan's office was called in to investigate the firing of 36 baton rounds during seven separate riots between April last year and January in which at least 26 people were hit.
In one outbreak of violence near the Holy Cross Primary School, north Belfast last January, the ombudsman's investigators claimed there was evidence a crowd was directed by men using walkie-talkies and whistles.
Her report to Secretary of State Dr John Reid said: "In all the instances the use of baton rounds were fully justified. "Indeed, the police frequently acted with considerable restraint. In one instance there are grounds for suggesting that baton rounds should have been introduced even earlier than they were".
Campaigners opposed to the use of the baton rounds said they found the report incredible and claimed it reinforced the nationalist view that the ombudsman's office was a "toothless tiger".
PA