Member's statement: PSNI Surveillance: Journalists

Member's statement by Mr Gerry Carroll on 14 May 2024.

MLA

Mr Gerry Carroll

Party at the time

People Before Profit Alliance

Date

14 May 2024

Type

Member's statement

Business

Members' Statements

Heading

PSNI Surveillance: Journalists

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 4489585

Read the official Assembly record

Text

I want to raise the issue of police spying on journalists in this state. I would like to say that I am shocked to hear that the PSNI put so many journalists under surveillance. It really should come as a shock that the PSNI accessed the phone bills of journalists who have carried out their important democratic function of holding the state to account, but it is hardly a first offence by the PSNI. It is not the first time that that police force has targeted and attempted to criminalise journalists or anyone who challenges the ruling establishment or uncovers the crimes that it has committed. Can you imagine the outcry in this Building if China or Russia were spying on journalists in this state? We are all familiar with the arrest and attempted prosecution of journalists Trevor Birney and Barry McCaffrey, who were pursued for exposing the truth of the Loughinisland atrocity. Instead of pursuing those who were involved in the murder of six civilians, the PSNI tried to prosecute journalists for exposing RUC collusion. That should tell us a lot about whose interests the PSNI serves and the justice that is afforded to us in this supposed democracy. At every turn, it has used its power to pervert and frustrate the course of justice. The PSNI has been at the vanguard of the state's attempts to deny victims and their bereaved families justice and to cover up the crimes of the RUC and muddy the waters of any investigation of crimes sanctioned by the Government. We all know what the PSNI is about, but the surveillance of so-called troublemaker journalists should be a watershed moment for everybody in this Building. I express my support for all those journalists who may be affected, reiterate the fact that journalism is not a crime and reaffirm the right of journalists to carry out their duties without any interference from the PSNI. The PSNI should come clean about its actions. It should state which journalists it had under surveillance and why, but we should know not to expect the truth from that discredited police force. The Justice Minister needs to set up an independent public inquiry into the PSNI surveillance of journalists. I am prepared to be corrected on this, but I have not seen nor heard a single word of condemnation from the Justice Minister. There seems to be no amount of controversy, scandal or wrongdoing by the PSNI that the Justice Minister and the Executive are not prepared to wash their hands of.

I cannot. We are continuously told that these are operational matters for the PSNI. Is it an operational matter for the PSNI when it withholds files of families bereaved in the Troubles, covering up for the devastation wrought by the state and its paramilitary proxies, the firing of lethal plastic bullets at children and teenagers, and arrests and strip-searching of children? The list goes on. The public need to know how deep the rot goes. Is the PSNI spying on political activists, MLAs, human rights workers and any other so-called troublemakers who challenge the state? It needs to come clean and be upfront about that. The Executive and the Policing Board cannot sit idly by while the PSNI —

— interferes with basic democratic rights. It is time for a public inquiry.

555 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Assessment

Not flagged

Jev’s structured answers

Assessed 21 October 2026 at 10:22 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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