A powerful Westminster committee is to be asked to hold an inquiry into the safety and protection of journalists in the north.
South Belfast MP Claire Hanna, who sits on the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee (NIAC), said she will make the request as it emerged that more than 4,000 phone communications between 12 journalists were monitored by police over a three-month period.
Ms Hanna said on Wednesday that materials linked to an ongoing London-based tribunal into police spying indicated “PSNI over-reach” and demonstrated a “culture of resistance and objection to basic accountability”.
Until recently the PSNI had claimed that the surveillance of journalists was carried out in a bid to root out malpractice in its own ranks.
In a report to the Policing Board last month the PSNI admitted making 823 applications for communications data for journalists and lawyers over a 13-year period from 2011-2024.
The report claimed 10 applications sought to identify a journalistic source using covert powers.
It has now emerged that an English police force was also monitoring journalist-to-journalist interactions during the same period.
It is understood around 4,000 communications, including text messages and the location of calls made were logged.
The surveillance focused on 12 journalists and others involved in the media covering a period between July-October 2011.
The group targeted includes some of the north’s best-known journalists, including Barry McCaffrey and Trevor Birney.
It is not known if the English police force at the centre of the latest snooping revelations did so at the request of the PSNI.
A PSNI spokeswoman said it is co-operating with the Investigatory Powers Tribunal (IPT) and the Investigatory Powers Commissioner’s Office, adding that “the Chief Constable has established the McCullough Review of the conduct of the Police Service of Northern Ireland arising from these and connected concerns. It would be inappropriate for us to comment while legal proceedings and the McCullough Review are ongoing.”
Details of the unravelling spy scandal came to light through the London-based IPT, which is examining allegations that Mr McCaffrey and Mr Birney were subjected to unlawful surveillance.
Ms Hanna said the IPT process has shed fresh light on the activities of the PSNI.
“The materials surfaced to date by the IPT have indicated PSNI over-reach and sent a chill throughout Northern Ireland journalism demonstrating a culture of resistance and objection to basic accountability in a democratic society,” she said.
“Due to failure of consecutive Stormont and Westminster governments to deal with the past we have relied on many journalists to challenge paramilitary narratives, expose state collusion and put the victims experience at the heart of exploring our past.”
Ms Hanna added that said she is committed to ensuring the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee looks at police snooping and the use of SLAPPS (Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation) - which politicians have been accused of using to try and silence journalists.
“Participation in our hard won peaceful democratic society should not come with the price tag of police surveillance where it is not warranted or in the interests of public safety and I am committed to seeing NIAC shine a light on the many challenges facing journalists throughout NI from Police Surveillance to SLAPPS from all sections of society,” Ms Hanna said.
