Nuala O'Loan has completed eight difficult and sometimes controversial years as Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland. And while her work brought her office into conflict with paramilitaries, politicians and the police establishment at various times, the upshot has been the creation of an effective complaints system that has won an international reputation for independence and impartiality. Her personal courage and commitment to the highest standards of policing deserve recognition.
It is easy to minimise the role she played in encouraging both communities to place their confidence in the newly established Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI). Her appointment in advance of the Belfast Agreement in 1999 - a Catholic solicitor and law lecturer, married to an SDLP politician - was viewed by critics as yet another aspect of the Patten agenda to denigrate the work of the Royal Ulster Constabulary. A scathing report on the RUC's handling of the Omagh bombing in 2002 represented something of a watershed for her, and last year a report found the RUC special branch had colluded with the UVF in north Belfast.
These controversial reports and the robust manner in which her office investigated allegations of abuse against members of the PSNI generated friction with the Police Federation. Earlier this week, a spokesman complained that she had gradually lost the confidence of serving and retired officers. But the reality is that, as in the Republic, the police establishment in the North was always quietly opposed to an effective complaints body.
It would be wrong to conclude that the growing acceptability of the PSNI is a direct consequence of the work of the Police Ombudsman. But her investigations have assisted in dispelling unfounded allegations against serving members while upholding valid complaints. Last year, an independent survey found Protestants and Catholics were equally supportive of her work, with four out of five feeling that both police officers and complainants had been treated fairly. An even larger percentage of PSNI members whose actions had been investigated took a similar view.
Policing a divided community can be extremely difficult. And fundamental mistakes were made in the past. The Patten reforms have brought necessary changes, but the structures are still viewed with suspicion in certain quarters.
In spite of that, Michael Gallagher, who lost a son in the Omagh bombing, observed that when the history of the period comes to be written, Mrs O'Loan will be one of the few to emerge with heightened credibility.