THE POLICE SERVICE of Northern Ireland is “checking our records” following reports that officers advised healthcare staff to show IDs to masked men during the rioting in Northern Ireland last week.
The claims first emerged last week amid the violence that erupted in parts of Belfast following a knife attack in which 44-year-old Stephen Ogilvie lost an eye.
Hadi Alodid (30) has been charged with attempted murder, possession of a knife in a public place and threats to kill in connection with the attack.
Violent rioting broke out after the stabbing, which saw mobs set homes, a bus and cars on fire, with people targeted based on their race.
There have been multiple reports of foreign national healthcare workers being intimidated, including one nurse who was chased on her way to work in a Belfast hospital by four masked men.
Speaking to reporters in Stormont today, Northern Ireland First Minister Michelle O’Neill said the suggestion that masked gangs were asking nurses to show their ID as they travelled to work was “vile and disgusting”.
She expressed particular concern about a claim that police officers close to the Mater hospital in north Belfast had advised healthcare staff to show their IDs to the rioters as they passed “checkpoints” set up by the gangs.
“I’ve asked the [PSNI] Chief Constable to do a full investigation into this, because I’ve been told by members who work in one of our local hospitals that they stood with police and were told to show their ID to masked men on the street,” she said.
If that happened, there needs to be a serious investigation. No nurse or no person going into the workplace to stop at any mob and give their ID. That’s absolutely disgraceful.
She added: “I think we have to get to the bottom of whether or not that did happen. I put it directly to the Chief Constable, who, in the first instance, dismissed it, but then, whenever I went back to him again, he had to take on board that actually both myself and the Health Minister (Mike Nesbitt) were told this by members of staff.”
Northern Ireland’s Royal College of Nursing engaged with the PSNI on the issue last week.
Later, Nesbitt was asked directly about “checkpoints” at the Mater hospital and police allegedly advising workers to show them their ID by SDLP MLA Colin McGrath during an urgent oral question.
Nesbitt responded by saying he had been in the Mater last week and “heard a number of quite horrendous stories which I will not share with the House because some of those stories would identify specific nurses and put them back at risk”.
“I did hear of one young nurse who had to negotiate her own way through the rioters, through the barricades down at Carlisle Circus, that’s not right, and that’s one of the conversations that I had with the Chief Constable and I will assure the Member Mr Boutcher took that very seriously indeed,” he told MLAs.
In a statement this evening, PSNI Assistant Chief Constable Ryan Henderson said health workers were among those rescued from their homes by emergency services last week.
“There have also been reports of disgraceful threats and intimidation directed to our nurses, carers and other healthcare staff,” he said.
He said the PSNI has spoken with the Royal College of Nursing and Unison and committed “significant resources” to being in the vicinity of hospitals to reassure and protect staff.
He acknowledged that officers received reports of vehicles being stopped by masked individuals in Belfast on the night of the disorder and said officers responded immediately to this, with a “significant mobile policing presence” being maintained.
“We are aware of reports circulating that police officers may have advised nursing staff outside the Mater Hospital to show their ID to masked men. We are checking our records of Tuesday evening to establish if we can identify any specific reports,” Henderson said.
“I have also engaged directly with the Chief Executive of the Belfast Trust and with senior staff at the Mater Hospital in order to obtain any specific examples they might be aware of. No one has come to police directly at this stage and we would urge anyone who experienced this or who has information to contact us on 101.”