the Ulster Volunteer Force, and officers under the command of Flanagan. The reports were acknowledged by the then Chief Constable Sir Hugh Orde who apologised for the wrongdoing of his officers, and by the then British Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Peter Hain. “While I appreciate that it cannot redress some of the tragic consequences visited upon the families of those touched by the incidents investigated in this report, I offer a whole-hearted apology for anything done or left undone." – Hugh Orde Flanagan denied any wrongdoing or acting with any knowledge of the events in question. He agreed that these events had taken place. In the aftermath of the ombudsman's report, Irish nationalist politicians said he should be forced to resign from his job as Chief Inspector of Constabulary. The Police Ombudsman had criticised Flanagan's role in the RUC inquiry into the Omagh Bombing of 1998, in a report published in 2001, to which his response was that he would "publicly commit suicide" if he believed her report was correct, though he later apologised for the form of words he used. Appearance before the Chilcot Inquiry In July 2010, Flanagan appeared before the Iraq Inquiry into the UK's role in the Iraq War. In 2005, he had conducted a review into the UK's contribution to policing reform in Iraq. As he gave evidence, Flanagan had to apologise for the amount of acronyms in his report on Iraq, which was presented to the government in January 2006:"In my view, and I would like to almost apologise for the number of acronyms in this report – but it wasn't written with a view to being read publicly. It was written for the people who invented the acronyms..." Honours OBE - Awarded in 1996 Knight Bachelor - Awarded in 1999 GBE - Awarded in 2002 References http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/1704256.stm http://www.serve.com/pfc/policing/ronnie.htm http://politics.guardian.co.uk/northernirelandassembly/story/0,9061,1663262,00.html http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/6290933.stm http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/6286657.stm External links Biography from Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary 1949 births Alumni of Queen's University Belfast Chief Constables of the Royal Ulster Constabulary Chief Constables of the Police Service of Northern Ireland Irish cricket administrators Knights Bachelor Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire Living people People educated at Belfast High School Presbyterians from Northern Ireland Northern Irish recipients of the Queen's Police Medal Chief Inspectors of Constabulary (England and Wales)