UVF squad who bombed Dublin and Monaghan, killing 33, named in leaked briefing

ALLISON MORRIS, Belfast Telegraph, October 22nd, 2025

FORMER SOLDIER 'SIGNED OFF ON ATTACKS' BUT FINDINGS STATE THERE IS NO EVIDENCE OF SECURITY FORCE COLLUSION

Members of the UVF unit responsible for the Dublin and Monaghan bombings have been named for the first time in a leaked briefing seen by the Belfast Telegraph.

Operation Denton is the long-running investigation looking at the potential involvement of agents of the state in the murder of civilians.

The May 17, 1974, Dublin and Monaghan bombings killed 33 civilians and injured almost 300 others, the deadliest attack in the Republic's history.

Three car bombs exploded in Dublin during the evening rush hour and a fourth exploded in Monaghan almost 90 minutes later.

While the report states that there was no specific intelligence that could have prevented the bombings, it did note that on the day of the attack, “literally moments before the first explosion, a garda stationed in Naas, County Kildare, received a phone call from an informant claiming that a bomb attack on a national scale was to be carried out”.

“The Garda are unable to provide us with any more details on that information,” the report notes.

Denton detectives — a team of investigators from Operation Kenova, which examined the activities of state agent Stakeknife — say that the UVF at the time was structured along British Army lines, led by a chief of staff based in the Shankill area of Belfast.

The UVF gang met in the Rumford Street Loyalist Club the day before the bombing mission.

On Thursday, May 16, “a number of UVF active service units were given instructions to attend an operational briefing on the Friday morning at the Rumford Street Loyalist Club”, it states.

“Collectively, these individuals, some of whom were ex-British Army, set, directed and controlled UVF policy across Northern Ireland and beyond.”

The report noted that the UVF's “Top Military Commander” signed off on the bombings.

Intelligence states that man was a 34-year-old labourer from Belfast called Tommy West.

West had joined the British Army and served in the Royal Artillery Regiment for 12 years.

After leaving the military in 1971, he returned to Belfast and became involved in the UVF. He was first arrested in October 1972 in a loyalist bar and was described in documents as one of the UVF's “top explosives experts”.

In March 1974, he was part of a UVF contingent which travelled to Dublin to meet and hold talks with senior members of the Official IRA. West died in 1980.

The report by the Operation Denton team — which was prepared as a briefing for the families of the bomb victims — states that the manner in which gardai communicated with the RUC throughout the investigation “appears passive, indecisive and without challenge”.

“There are no records of requests for the basic intelligence around named individuals or location of interest. Enhanced information sharing could have bolstered the deeply dismissed active lines of enquiry.

“There is no record of investigators chasing or pushing the RUC to respond to their requests. The request to locate and interview six named suspects took almost six months to fulfil.

“This delay had a significant impact on the impetus of the investigation.”

While gardai were criticised for not pushing the RUC for information, the RUC was criticised for not sharing it.

“In 1974, the RUC had access to intelligence implicating who was responsible for the Dublin and Monaghan bombings. Some of this material related to individuals who the Guards had named in correspondence with the RUC as suspects,” the report states.

“Despite this the RUC failed to disclose the intelligence they held. The material could and would have provided the investigating teams with new lines of enquiry and focus.”

Leading loyalist William Marchant, who was 26 at the time, is also named as part of the bomb team.

In October 1973, Marchant was linked to UVF operational activity, working closely alongside West.

In April 1974, during a raid at Marchant's home, a document detailing security protocols for a Territorial Army reserve centre was found.

Marchant was thought to be “at the heart of a plot to raid that premises for obviously firearms and potential explosive”.

In April 1987, Marchant was murdered by the IRA. His family have been cooperating with the Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery (ICRIR), who recently issued a request for information about the killing.

Stanley Grey was 35, working various jobs and living in Belfast at the time.

In May 1973, he was suspected of being involved in a plot to transport explosives into Northern Ireland from Scotland.

In July 1973, he was judged to be a member of the UVF Brigade Staff, tasked with bomb coordination and directly linked to the UVF's summer bombing campaign.

He was arrested and interned without trial. However, on April 23, 1974, some 24 days before the Dublin and Monaghan bombings he was released from custody. He died in 2018.

Another member of the UVF squad was named as Eddie Brown, a 36-year-old doorman at the Rumford Street Loyalist Club.

He was also regarded as one of the UVF's most senior explosive experts and a member of the UVF Brigade Staff.

In a British Army assessment, he was described as a “ruthless, extremely violent and hardened individual”. He died in 2010.

William Mitchell was 34, unemployed and living in Carrickfergus at the time of the attack.

As early as 1967, Mitchell was active in the East Antrim Loyalist Front. By September 1973, he had become the chairman and secretary of that organisation. In the British Army assessment, he was named and identified as a prominent UVF officer.

In November 1973, he was deemed to be the commanding officer of the Carrickfergus UVF, which had strong links to the Newtownabbey UVF. Mitchell died in 2006.​

At the Rumford Street Loyalist Club in the heart of the Shankill where the UVF units were briefed on the operation the day before the attack, an order was given to source three cars, which were used to transport the bombs.

The first car, a Ford Escort, was stolen from Duncrue Street in the Tigers Bay area of Belfast. It was left at Talbot Street in Dublin.

The second vehicle, an Austin Maxi, which was the car that was taken to South Leinster Street, was stolen by means of a hijack in Agnes Street, yards from the Rumford Street Loyalist Club. A Hillman Avenger was taken to Parnell Street in Dublin.

The Denton report states that the “British Army in its assessment expressed concern that the UVF campaign demonstrated widespread disregard for human life whilst highlighting a potential sinister link between known UVF operators” and seemingly, this is a term used in the document, “respectable men within the Protestant community”.

“These respectable men included individual members of the Royal Ulster Constabulary. As a consequence, in a bid to safeguard proactive operations there was a reluctance by the British Army to disseminate the intelligence to the RUC,” it states.

It also found that “the UVF were capable of carrying out the Dublin Monaghan bombings without any technical support from the security forces. This is obviously a key question that has been asked by all the families”.

The report also states: “It is believed that on the day of the attack, a female from the Heathfield area was asked to travel to Dublin on a bombing run. She declined, but it was reported that a replacement was found.”

The full report is expected to be published within weeks.

British army reduced information to RUC in ‘70s because of leaks to UVF

New details of breakdown in trust between the security agencies is uncovered in state review into loyalist murder gangs

CONNLA YOUNG CRIME AND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT, Irish News, October 22nd, 2025

THE British army stopped providing intelligence to the police in the early 1970s because it did not trust the RUC, a state review into a UVF murder gang has found.

Shocking details of the breakdown in trust between the British army and RUC have emerged in a briefing provided to the family of an innocent Catholic couple murdered in their Co Tyrone home 50 years ago this week.

Husband and wife Peter (63) and Jane McKearney (58) died after loyalist gunmen burst into their home near Moy, Co Tyrone on October 23 1975, and shot them.

Significantly, the briefing revealed that in the early 1970s the British army issued a stark warning to the RUC about the growing threat of the UVF.

“British military flagged up 1972 and 1973 that the UVF were a dangerous organisation,” the note states.

Incredibly, the record goes on to confirm the British military stopped providing the RUC with information amid a breakdown in co-operation.

“At one point during this period they were not sharing information with the RUC because they didn’t trust them,” the note states.

The McKearney family has also been told that the RUC did not take British army warnings about the danger posed by the UVF seriously.

“The RUC were told by the military about how dangerous the UVF could be in 1972. The RUC played this threat down – it is not until 1975 that Operation Denton could see a more robust police response to the UVF – this effectively allowed the UVF to do what they were doing,” the note states.

In the period from 1972 to 1975 the UVF was engaged in a vicious sectarian campaign across the north that resulted in multiple murders.

During this time the Mid Ulster UVF grew in strength, boosted by defections from the UDA.

While the involvement of RUC and UDR members in UVF murders is well documented, Operation Denton, a state-sponsored review, is now officially confirming the links between the UVF’s murder machine and security forces in Mid Ulster.

While a previous Historical Enquiries Team (HET) investigation claimed it couldn’t find “a link to collusion in the murders”, Operation Denton officials have told the McKearney family it has established a direct connection – “a serving member of the UDR”.

The couple, who had five children, were killed by the Mid Ulster UVF, which included members of the RUC, UDR and other British army units.

Around 120 sectarian killings have been attributed to the ruthless murder squad, which is often referred to as the ‘Glenanne Gang’.

It was named after a farmyard where it operated from in Glenanne, south Armagh,

British army was distrustful of RUC

From P1 which was owned by former RUC reservist James Mitchell.

Fresh information about its activities have emerged as part of the Operation Denton review.

In recent months Operation Denton detectives have provided personal briefings to the relatives of some people killed by the UVF in Mid Ulster in the 1970s, including the McKearney family.

A final report is expected to be published in the coming weeks.

Investigators have now told relatives the review will focus on the ‘Mid Ulster UVF’, which had several units across counties Armagh and Tyrone in the 1970s, “because it was much bigger than the Glenanne Gang”.

Operation Denton has also identified other farms that were “used to store weapons, store bombs, make bombs and plan attacks”.

One of these farms is thought to have belonged to Edward Tate Sinclair, a former member of the Orange Order and B-Specials, who is believed to have been involved in the McKearney killings.

Other suspects include former UDR man Derek McFarland, who died in 1981, and Garnet Busby who was convicted of killing the couple in 1981 as well as involvement in the Hillcrest Bar bombing in Dungannon in 1976 which resulted in the deaths of four Catholics, including two 13-year-old boys.

Above, Stewart Young was in charge of the Mid Ulster UVF.

Below, UVF boss Robin Jackson

A fourth suspect, known as Man 3, has not been identified, although his name is known to The Irish News.

A detailed note of a recent meeting between the McKearney family and Operation Denton officials sheds fresh light on the structure of the UVF in Mid Ulster and the key figures involved.

Last month, The Irish News revealed that two brothers, Stewart and Ivor Young, both now dead, were central players in the Mid Ulster UVF’s murder campaign in the 1970s, which including a bomb attack at Dublin air-port in November 1975 that claimed the life of baggage handler John Hayes.

Operation Denton has established that a member of the UDR was a quartermaster for the UVF’s Mid Ulster unit.

The McKearney family has also been told that the majority of attacks carried out on the Catholic community were “deliberate” and “sectarian”.

“The UVF at the time were targeting people just because they were Catholic,” the note states.

“Security force members were involved in murder, supply of information and were directly infiltrated by members of loyalist groups.

“There was direct involvement of UDR and RUC members in murder.”

In some cases, the security forces were “providing intelligence to loyalist paramilitary groups, in a lot of incidents, this was incorrect information”.

Denton officials have also concluded UDR members allowed others “through checkpoints using UDR passes” after murder attacks were carried out.

Investigators have told members of the McKearney family that, despite evidence of extensive collusion, “there wasn’t a need for paid informers to be involved”.

Stewart Young was in charge of the Mid Ulster UVF at the time, which also included other high-profile loyalists, including Robin ‘The Jackal’ Jackson.

A former UDR member Jackson, who is a suspected state agent, held a significant role in the Mid Ulster UVF during the mid-1970s.

Denton officials say they “have not” found that there was a “paid informer involved” at the time.

While its existence was known to The Irish News, Kenova investigators have now confirmed the establishment of a little-known RUC unit to investigate a spate of killings in the Armagh area in the mid-1970s.

Known as the ‘A Squad’, The Irish News understands the detective unit made arrests linked to high-profile loyalist attacks that resulted in multiple fatalities.

It is understood the existence of the ‘A Squad’ caused “panic” in loyalist circles in north Armagh at the time.

In its briefing to the McKearney family, Operation Denton refers to the ‘A Squad’ and references the Miami Showband massacre, which took place in 1975.

Three members of the popular showband were killed when their minibus was stopped at a bogus UDR check point near Banbridge in Co Down on July 31 1975.

Two loyalists, Harris Boyle and Wesley Somerville, who were members of the UDR, also died when the bomb they were planting on the band’s bus exploded prematurely.

Operation Denton officials have identified the failure of the RUC to fully investigate loyalist paramilitaries until the establishment of the ‘A Squad’, and highlighted complaints made by unionist politicians when the spotlight fell on loyalist killer gangs.

“Up until the Miami attack there was a two-tier system in relation to how the RUC dealt with republican and loyalists paramilitaries – republicans were dealt with more harshly,” the note states.

“The ‘A Squad’ came in after the Miami – significant people [unionist politicians] were complaining about the treatment of loyalists after this time.”

Stormont declared 'crime scene' amid Lough Neagh algae crisis

REBECCA BLACK, Belfast Telegraph, October 22nd, 2025

PROTEST COMES AS INDEPENDENT PANEL CALLS FOR REGULATOR ROLE TO BE CREATED

Northern Ireland's seat of government has been declared a “crime scene” at a protest over the ongoing environmental crisis at Lough Neagh.

The claim came as an independent panel recommended the appointment of an independent regulator for the environment in Northern Ireland.

The role would include oversight of air and water quality, waste management, nature and biodiversity and the marine environment.

Yesterday, a symbolic citizens' arrest of an “MLA” was staged in a demonstration at Parliament Buildings calling for immediate action to address the issues facing Lough Neagh, which was blighted with blooms of blue-green algae for the third summer in a row recently.

The cause has been put down to an excess of nutrients from a number of sources, including waste water, septic tanks and agriculture, exasperated by climate change and the invasive species Zebra Mussels.

Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs Minister Andrew Muir is currently implementing a Lough Neagh Recovery Plan. However, James Orr, director of Friends of the Earth in the region, said all departments are responsible.

Activists also called for an independent Environmental Protection Agency for Northern Ireland, community ownership of the lough with the rights of nature enshrined, a Citizens' Assembly for the lough, a “moratorium on all factory farms and sand dredging” and urgent investment in waste water systems.

Addressing those gathered, Mr Orr said he was declaring Parliament Buildings and the Stormont Executive inside to be a crime scene.

“We have a lot of merit in saying that. First of all, under the Wildlife and Natural Environment Act, if any public department causes damage to an ASSI (Areas of Special Scientific Interest), it shall be guilty of a criminal offence,” he said.

“If we look at all the departments responsible for the death of Lough Neagh, what we would say is that Lough Neagh isn't dying of manslaughter, it is being murdered by a whole range of different government departments.”

Mr Orr described Lough Neagh as “our most precious natural habitat and cultural jewel”, but waste water is being dumped in it, and sand dredged.

“There are lots of things that this Executive could do, the fact that they're not doing them, and they're deflecting us from the real issues which are sand mining on an industrial scale, the defunding of NI Water and most important, DAERA should be (hanging their heads in shame) that the agricultural strategy which will demolish family farms and replace them with factory farms is still going ahead,” he said.

“We've had enough and we're declaring Stormont a crime scene.”

The protest came as a review of environmental governance in Northern Ireland by an independent panel said it aims to bring “meaningful change”.

The panel, Dr Viviane Gravey, Diane Ruddock and John McCallister, noted it comes at a time when the region's environment is under “mounting stress”, with signals which “cannot be ignored”.

This was described as most visible in terms of the Lough Neagh algae.

The report includes 32 recommendations designed to give a clearer separation between policy making and regulation, and improve public confidence and trust in governance arrangements.

These include an advisory committee to support the new regulator, as well as a duty to co-operate with the regulator for all public authorities, and the regulator making greater use of civil sanctions.

They also include for the Assembly to establish an Environmental Audit Committee to ensure appropriate oversight and accountability.

Meanwhile the report notes that addressing environmental challenges is not just the responsibility of DAERA, but a task which all of government and all of society should address together.

Dr Gravey, who chaired the panel, said the recommendations chart a “practical and achievable way forward”.

“Our report is published at a time when Northern Ireland's environment is under mounting stress,” she said.

“The signals cannot be ignored. Governance reform is an essential element of our response to the climate and nature crises.

“While our call for an independent environmental regulator is significant, this must be accompanied by a broad range of meaningful changes across the governance system, some of which could be implemented very quickly.

Mr Muir thanked the panel for carrying out a “complex review”.

“I am fully committed to better and stronger environmental governance and fully accept the review panel's recommendation that a new independent environmental regulator for Northern Ireland should be established,” he said.

“I intend to take a paper to the Executive and to address the Assembly on the next steps in the short time ahead.”

Legal process ‘re-traumatising’ survivors of domestic violence

HANNAH PATTERSON, Irish News, October 22nd, 2025

A year since the executive launched its ending violence against women and girls strategy, eight murder charges where the victim was a female have been recorded while 28 women have been murdered in the past five years in the north

The experience of going to court for women who are survivors of domestic violence is ‘re-traumatising’

THE court process for women who are survivors of domestic violence is ‘re-traumatising’ victims.

Women’s Aid spoke to The Irish News a year on since the executive launched its ending violence against women and girls strategy last September.

Since the launch, the PSNI says eight murder charges have been recorded where the victim was a female, one of whom was under 18.

Women’s Aid said that in the north, 28 women have been murdered since 2020. The majority of these have been in their own home.

CEO Sarah Mason said we are in a ‘better place’ since the strategy was launched, but that the justice system needs to do better.

“One woman described the process as “the systematic dismantling of a women piece by piece’. Perpetrators of coercive control must be held to account,” she said.

A Co Down woman, who wishes to remain anonymous described how her husband assaulted her.

The 57-year-old from Greyabbey said the attack that happened 10 years ago, did not lead to a jail term.

“He just charged at me, he strangled me. I did go unconscious. I came around to him trying to pull my teeth out… he was stamping on my kidneys… I think he was trying to break my neck. It was the first time he’d ever been physically violent towards me,” she said.

The attack was traumatising, but what the woman did not expect was a ‘re-traumatising’ court process.

She said: “I was told he’d be behind bars for about seven years and that gave a lot of comfort… I thought we’ll be safe for a while.”

She said the whole legal process added to her stress.

“You feel isolated, things aren’t explained very well. As a victim, you can’t go in a separate entrance [to court]. You are exposed to the perpetrators of violence. It’s very intimidating. And I can’t see today that much has changed.

“He didn’t go to prison. He was given community alternatives. The legal process was really painful. It compounded the trauma. I do not want any other girl in the island of Ireland to suffer what I suffered. To say it was re-traumatising would be an understatement.”

The Lady Chief Justice said: “The judiciary are aware of the devastating impact of domestic abuse and

“You feel isolated, things aren’t explained very well. As a victim, you can’t go in a separate entrance (to court). You are exposed to the perpetrators of violence. It’s very intimidating. And I can’t see today that much has changed

Victim of domestic violence want to ensure complainants are heard, supported and have access to the full suite of special measures and orders which the court can provide to ensure the protection of them and their families.

“Each case must be considered on its individual facts and circumstances. The individual nature of the case is also relevant to sentencing as well as the sentencing framework, set in legislation by the Department of Justice.

“Under recent legislation the sentencing court, in determining the appropriate sentence, must treat the fact that the offence is aggravated by domestic abuse as a factor that increases the seriousness of the offence. The judiciary are also very aware of the need to reduce avoidable delay but also the need to ensure that defendants’ rights to a fair trial are upheld.”

Justice Minister Naomi Long said: “My Department is working closely with justice partners to reduce avoidable delay… through the cross-agency speeding up justice programme.

“Earlier this year, my department secured £20.5 million in transformation funding to further drive forward work on early engagement and outof-court disposals.”

Welcoming the strategy, Ms Mason however warned of a long road ahead.

“Women are being murdered, and we must stop it. Women’s lives are on hold. The court process can take up to four years. We can’t just say ‘here’s a strategy’ and leave it. It must be continued investment, support and funding.

“We were the only part of the UK and Ireland and a lot of Europe without a strategy last year. Now, that is not the case.”

One in eight people have ‘experienced’ drug-linked intimidation, report claims

Parents and siblings ‘forced into sexual or criminal activity’ to clear drug debts

MAURICE FITZMAURICE, Irish News, October 22nd, 2025

AS many as one in eight people in the north have “experienced” drug-linked intimidation, a new report claims.

The assertion has been made in a ‘landmark’ report drawn up by the Public Health Agency and launched today.

Justice Minister Naomi Long and Health Minister Mike Nesbitt say ‘Drug-Related Intimidation in Northern Ireland’ “offers the most comprehensive analysis to date of the nature, prevalence and impact of DRI across the region”.

The report, produced for the Executive Programme on Paramilitarism and Organised Crime (EP-POC), “reveals the widespread and complex nature of DRI, which affects individuals, families, and entire communities”.

It reveals that “nearly 40% of the general population are aware of suspected or real DRI occurring in their community” and that “one in eight reported direct experience in the last three years”.

The research found that the intimidation can take a number of forms including:

 Surveillance: Like cars parked or people standing near individuals’ homes, following them around or constant text messages, knocks on doors, and sharing footage of beatings of others to put psychological pressure on individuals. l Public shaming: Involving graffiti sprayed onto homes, publishing lists of names of apparent drug dealers. l Vandalism and property damage: Examples provided for this intimidation type include damage to windows, cars, and firebombing/arson of homes. l Threats to life: Often these come from paramilitary groups and are verified by the PSNI. l Physical violence: Often termed paramilitary style attacks they can cause injuries including fractures, cuts, stab and gunshot wounds. Re-port says there is “a suggestion that PSA were recently somewhat more common in loyalist areas”.

The cover of the ‘Drug Related Intimidation in Northern Ireland’ report

The report authors also looked at how family members can be drawn into the intimidation “due to the drug use and related debt or drug dealing of their relative”.

The report states: “They can be indirectly affected due to threats and violence meted out on their relative or their shared home, with the most extreme cases being parents who have brought their child for a PSA. Family members can become the target of DRI itself.

Many try to support their relative in repaying drug debts, providing money and even re-mortgaging their home.

“When lacking financial resources, parents and siblings were forced into sexual or criminal activity to clear the debt.

A trend was also reported by probation service users in Belfast, with threats of harm to female relatives being more effective in controlling them than violence targeting them directly.”

The findings “highlight the harms caused by the often complicated relationship between drug debt, organised crime, paramilitary groups, and social vulnerability”.

Launching the report, Naomi Long said: “Drug-related intimidation is a deeply corrosive force in our society. It preys on vulnerability, fuels fear and undermines the very fabric of our communities. This report lays bare the scale and complexity of the challenge we face, and it demands action.

“As Minister of Justice, I am committed to working with all sectors including health, housing, education, and community organisations to deliver a joined-up response.”

The minister also praised the voices of victims, families, and frontline workers featured in the report. She added: “Their courage and insight must guide our policy and practice. We must confront the stigma that isolates victims and perpetuates harm. It is no easy task but together, we can build a Northern Ireland where drug related intimidation and its pernicious effects have no place.”

Mike Nesbitt said: “Substance use has a real and lasting impact on individuals, families, and communities right across Northern Ireland. Not only are there the direct mental and physical harms, but people who use drugs often face stigma, prejudice, and intimidation – and we know this causes further harm as fewer people come forward for treatment and support.

“These issues are often unseen and unaddressed, leading to a spiral of substance use, exploitation, and being pulled into criminal activity.

“This collaborative scoping study, for the first time, brings together information, statistics, and, importantly, lived experience of drug related intimidation. The output should be compulsory reading for all across Government. This is only the start of the journey, we now need to use it to inform our collective response, and plans are underway to consider how best to embed a holistic and compassionate response.”

The one in eight “having experienced DRI within the last three years either due to their own drug use or that of a family member, friend or acquaintance” statistic was drawn from a ‘general population survey’ which spoke to 1,015 people in a ‘representative online panel’.

O'Dowd bids to reverse Treasury decision on PSNI data leak compo

JONATHAN MCCAMBRIDGE, Belfast Telegraph,  October 22nd, 2025

WESTMINSTER REJECTED REQUEST FOR HELP WITH COSTS OF 2023 BREACH

Stormont's Finance Minister has said he is working to get a Treasury decision not to help with the cost of paying compensation to PSNI officers affected by a major data breach in 2023 overturned.

John O'Dowd called for the Assembly to send out a united message on the issue after SDLP Opposition leader Matthew O'Toole said it was another Executive “shambles”.

The PSNI breach occurred in August 2023, when a spreadsheet released as part of a freedom of information request held hidden data with the initials, surname, rank and role of around 9,400 PSNI officers and staff.

Police later said the information had got into the hands of dissident republicans.

In the aftermath of the leak, some officers chose to relocate their homes and change daily routines.

The PSNI accepted liability for the data breach and negotiations over settlements to those affected continues.

The Stormont Executive had made a reserve claim to the Treasury to cover unforeseen, unavoidable and unaffordable spending pressures.

After it emerged earlier this week that the Treasury had rejected the call, Mr O'Toole asked Mr O'Dowd how compensation claims, which it is estimated could run to £120m, would be paid.

The Finance Minister told MLAs: “It is regrettable that the Chief Secretary to the Treasury has declined the Executive's request for access to the reserve costs associated with the PSNI data breach.

“It remains my view that the exceptional, unavoidable nature of these costs meets the conditions of our reserve claim.

“There are people and families impacted by this data breach and we all need to be mindful of the effect this has had on them.”

The minister said significant information had been supplied to the Treasury supporting the case for access to the reserve, including outlining the “challenging budgetary position” of the Executive.

He added: “I will continue to press the Treasury to reconsider this decision.”

Mr O'Dowd told MLAs that the final compensation costs were not yet known.

He added: “Once these are concluded I will be able to consider the budgetary implications.”

Mr O'Toole pointed out that the Treasury had already rejected a previous request to assist with the funding last year and asked what the minister had been doing since.

He added: “This is another shambles. We only found out about this because a letter was leaked to the media, but presumably your department has known about this for weeks.

“Can I ask you, is this another example on your watch, like the A5, of basic work simply not being done?”

Mr O'Dowd said the Assembly should send a clear message to the Treasury that it should be given access to the reserve funding.

He said he had informed his Executive colleagues of the situation on the same day he was informed of the Treasury decision.

The minister added: “I have been working since then to try and get this decision overturned.”

The under-strength PSNI is also seeking £200m for a recovery plan to recruit more numbers, although the Executive has said it cannot currently afford it.