SINN FÉIN MLA John O’Dowd has said the PSNI officer who waved an Armagh flag from a police vehicle following the Orchard County’s All-Ireland win “did more for community relations than any recruitment campaign”.

On Sunday evening, footage on social media showed PSNI squad cars, using the vehicles’ sirens, waving Armagh flags from the windows in the village of Camlough. 

The PSNI announced on Monday that it had “commenced an internal investigation into the circumstances surrounding this.”

The videos were heavily criticised by unionist politicians,  with DUP leader Gavin Robinson claiming that the incident required the PSNI to “reaffirm confidence in the PSNI’s impartiality, integrity and professional standards”.

UUP leader Doug Beattie meanwhile labelled the incident “naive and reckless”. 

Sinn Féin’s John O’Dowd is Stormont’s Infrastructure Minister and was speaking to reporters in Dundalk Railway Station this morning to speak about the All-Island Strategic Rail Review.

John O'Dowd (right) with Eamon Ryan at Dundalk Railwya Station this morning.

When asked about the incident, O’Dowd remarked that the officer in question “did more for community relations with the nationalist and Republican community than any glossy brochure or any glossy recruitment campaign will have ever done”.

He added: “What he showed was that he was part of the community, that he was involved with his community, and that he wanted to be part of the celebration of that community.

“I think it has been thrown out of all proportion and that officer should be allowed to go about his duties, and his duties are working with a community he serves.”

The incident on Sunday followed Armagh beating Galway by 1-11 to 0-13 points to lift the Sam Maguire and be crowned All-Ireland Football champions for only the second time, following their first win in 2002.