A former IRA prisoner convicted of bombing offences in England is one of three Sinn Féin members nominated to serve on the Northern Ireland Policing Board after devolution is formally restored in two weeks.
Martina Anderson, from the Bogside in Derry, along with former Belfast lord mayor Alex Maskey and the youngest member of the new Assembly, Daithí McKay, are scheduled to join the reconstituted board after May 8th.
Ms Anderson, who was convicted of conspiracy to cause explosions in England in 1986, spent more than 13 years in prisons in England and Ireland and was released early under the terms of the Belfast Agreement. She is also Sinn Féin's "director of unionist engagement".
When devolution is restored, the Sinn Féin ardchomhairle will have to formally accept that the three can join the board, which will be the final stage in Sinn Féin's endorsement of the PSNI.
This is seen as a formality as party president Gerry Adams has stated he will propose their joining the board at the ardchomhairle after May 8th.
The DUP's response to Ms Anderson's nomination was relatively sanguine.
At Stormont yesterday she was asked was it not an extraordinary turn of events that a former convicted IRA member opposed to policing would now be holding the police to account. She replied: "I am a republican, I am a proud republican, and like many thousands of people out there I have been in prison, as have many thousands of others. At this moment in time I think it is important that we win the peace."
Mr Maskey, one of Sinn Féin's senior negotiators who was the first party member elected to Belfast City Council, said, "Taking up positions on the policing board is clearly significant." He added: "It is not the job of the policing board to rubber-stamp PSNI policy and actions. The Sinn Féin members on the policing board will provide the voice for communities who have in the past experienced only bad policing. We want to play a constructive role on the board but we will not shy away from challenging, or criticising, or questioning policing decisions and policy when the need arises."
Asked would the members find themselves in a position where they were defending the PSNI, Mr Maskey replied: "We will be fair and we will treat everybody including police, members of the police service, on a fair basis because what we want is a fair system. We want a system which is accountable and representative of the community. We want to make sure that those who are wanting to serve the community are given a fair opportunity to do that."
Mr Maskey said key objectives of the three Sinn Féin members would be: creating an accountable civic policing service; holding chief constable Sir Hugh Orde publicly to account; making community policing a core element of the PSNI; dealing with plastic bullets; and ensuring "political policing, collusion and 'the force within a force' is a thing of the past and to oppose any involvement by the British security service/MI5 in civic policing".
At 25, Mr McKay, from Rasharkin, Co Antrim, is the youngest MLA. He is a Ballymoney councillor and MLA in the Rev Ian Paisley's North Antrim constituency who joined Sinn Féin six years ago.
The DUP's Gregory Campbell said the nomination of Ms Anderson was "in keeping with the disdain which they appear to hold for these positions".
He added, however: "Nonetheless we have to move on and see how former terrorists adapt to their new role in the law-abiding community."
