Ronnie Flanagan

This article is part of SpinWatch's Northern Ireland Portal.

Sir Ronnie Flanagan is a former Chief Constable of the RUC and Chief Inspector of Constabulary. He is due to become to become strategic adviser to the Minister of Interior of the United Arab Emirates after completing an investigation into contracts awarded to a friend of Sir Ian Blair.

RUC career

Sir Ronnie (born 1949) joined the Royal Ulster Constabulary in 1970 and served as a Constable and Sergeant in Belfast, spending time in uniformed and CID disciplines.

On the promotion to the rank of Inspector in 1976, he was transferred to Londonderry and later Strabane where he experienced Border Policing; he also served in the Personnel Department. In 1982 he was appointed Detective Inspector in Special Branch and the following year, on promotion to Chief Inspector, was responsible for the selection, training and operational control of specialist uniformed anti-terrorist units.

According to Paul Larkin, this role gave Flanagan Northern Ireland-wide responsibility for the Headquarters Mobile Support Units (HMSUs), while Chief Inspector Ian Phoenix was reponsible for Belfast operations. Larkin claims that both men were key decision-makers in Operation Furlong, the RUC surveillance of loyalist James Pratt Craig.

Phoenix's career in the RUC followed Flanagan's very closely rising, as they both did, through the ranks under the eagle eye of Sir John (Jack) Hermon).

He was transferred to Armagh in 1987, on promotion to Detective Superintendent.

Paul Larkin claims that Flanagan's position would have enabled him to be aware of the loyalist threat to Pat Finucane, who was murdered in Belfast in 1989, although he notes that other sources claim Flanagan was still based in Armagh at the time of the killing.

Flanagan had recently been moved from Armagh where he was head of Special Branch on the TCG for South Region which covers the border area. In his new role, as head of the Special Branch's 'Operations Department', Flanagan was ultimately responsible for all the covert intelligence flowing into RUC Special Branch.

Following his promotion to Chief Superintendent in 1990 he was appointed to the Police Staff College at Bramshill as Director of the Intermediate Command Course and subsequently of the Senior Command Course, which is designed to prepare selected officers for Chief Officer rank.

Returning to Northern Ireland in 1992 on appointment as Assistant Chief Constable, he headed Operations Department; in April 1993 he was appointed as Operational Commander for the Belfast region; and in August 1994 was appointed Head of Special Branch. In March 1995 he was appointed Acting Deputy Chief Constable, Support Services and formally appointed Deputy Chief Constable in February 1996, taking over Operations in April of that year. During 1996 he conducted a fundamental review of the structure and organisation of the Royal Ulster Constabulary.

Chief Constable

The French publication Intelligence Newsletter claimed in 1995 that Flanagan was MI6's candidate for RUC Chief Constable, while MI5 was backing Blair Wallace.

Sir Ronnie was awarded the OBE in Her Majesty' 1996 New Year Honours List; on 4 November of the same year he took up office as Chief Constable.

Sir Ronnie received a Knighthood in the New Year Honours List, December 1998.

Rosemary Nelson

David Watkins, the former Northern Ireland Office director of policing and security told the Rosemary Nelson Inquiry that Flanagan had called Rosemary Nelson "an immoral woman" at a meeting with the Northern Ireland Secretary during the Drumcree crisis in 1998:

I do recall that the then Chief Constable in SPM -- and this is the one recollection I have of Rosemary Nelson being discussed -- referring to her in untoward terms by referring to the allegations of her relationship with Duffy. And it was at that point -- and this is why I remember this so absolutely clearly -- and I think this was the SPM on the day of 10 July 1998, the day before the proximity talks -- it was then that I remember thinking, "I must keep that -- you know, anything that is not proven in relation to Rosemary Nelson or, indeed, anybody else -- out of my mind in dealing with her".

Beatrix Campbell reported that Flanagan denied this allegation:

Indeed he denied knowing - or believing - that Nelson was anything other than a lawyer doing her job, until he was confronted by the warrant. His denials have confounded many observers, "either he didn't know what special branch was doing, or he is lying," commented Martin O'Brien, former director of CAJ, Northern Ireland's leading human rights organisation, "and neither of those options is palatable". Why, he wondered, was all this coming out now?

Castlereagh break-in

The Castlereagh break-in at RUC headquarters took place on 17 March 2002 shortly before Northern Ireland Secretary John Reid hosted a retirement reception for Flanagan at Hillsborough Castle on 25 March.

On 31 March 2002, Sir Ronnie retired from the PSNI and on 1 April 2002 was appointed Her Majesty's Inspector of Constabulary for London and the East Region.