Byrne exit shows weight of political pressure on Northern Ireland’s police

Simon Byrne leaves James House in Belfast last Thursday after a seven-hour meeting of the Northern Ireland Policing Board. Photograph: Liam McBurney/PA

In the end, it appears it was the politics of Northern Ireland that ended Simon Byrne’s career as chief constable.

Nowhere outside the Metropolitan area in London is the job of policing subject to such scrutiny, criticism and political commentary.