Durkan clarifies controversial ad

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SDLP leader Mark Durkan has clarified a controversial newspaper advertisement on policing, published last month.

Alan McQuillan is suing for libel over what he regards as a derogatory reference to him being part of what the advert called "the old RUC order".

Mr Durkan said the advert did not link the former assistant chief constable to collusion as the SDLP did not suspect this, and affirmed his good reputation.

He said "the old RUC order" reference should have been in inverted commas.

"In doing that, we were actually refuting what was a constant Sinn Fein refrain in recent weeks that when the SDLP went on the Policing Board, and with all we had done on the Policing Board, we had accepted and endorsed the 'old RUC order'," he said.

"It was partly rebutting that language used by Sinn Fein, and so those words should have appeared inside quotation marks."

Mr Durkan was speaking on BBC Radio Ulster's Inside Politics programme.

The newspaper advert related to the SDLP's role in the selection process which led to the appointment of Sir Hugh Orde as PSNI chief constable.

Mr McQuillan, who is currently head of the Assets Recovery Agency, had also applied for the job.