The chairman of the Policing Board in Northern Ireland has written to the SDLP leader over a claim that his party had ensured the appointment of Hugh Orde as Chief Constable.
Mark Durkan's comments last week angered Mr Orde, who sent an internal memo to all PSNI members criticising the SDLP and Sinn Féin for using policing as a political football.
Mr Durkan said tonight his party had behaved honorably and responsibly regarding Mr Orde's appointment.
In a BBC interview from Dublin, Mr Durkan said Hugh Orde's words had not been chosen well.
He said he stood over his party's role on the Policing Board.
Mr Durkan said the SDLP had never claimed that Mr Orde was their 'lackey'. 'Why should I apologise for telling the truth', he said.
Mr Durkan said his comments in a newspaper advertisement on Friday had been made because the SDLP's role in policing reforms was being misrepresented and he claimed Sinn Féin had been telling lies.
Earlier, the DUP Policing Board member, Ian Paisley Junior, called for an investigation into the SDLP's claim.
Mr Paisley said Hugh Orde's job was one of the most senior appointments in Northern Ireland.
He said the SDLP were entitled, by dint of their membership of the Policing Board, to sit on the recruitment panel and yet the advert that party had placed in last Friday's Irish News implied they openly rigged that recruitment process.
Ulster Unionist board member Fred Cobain called on the SDLP leader Mark Durkan to apologise for his remarks.
A Policing Board spokesperson said the board had undertaken a thorough, professional and legislatively compliant appointment process which was based on appointing a new Chief Constable solely on merit and included independent assessments.
The Board Chairman Professor Sir Desmond Rea has written to the SDLP leader in relation to comments published in the advertisement.
The matter will be raised at the Policing Board's meeting in a week's time.
Meanwhile Sinn Féin and the SDLP have been responding to comments made by Hugh Orde, who said that some individuals had been using policing for political purposes.
In the internal memo, Mr Orde had said he was angered that insulting comments had been made about the organisation.
He said he had spoken directly to the SDLP leadership and taken steps to speak to Sinn Féin, but their leadership appeared 'to have gone on the run'.
Sinn Féin's Conor Murphy said the party was not reluctant to meet anyone and said the collusion issue would not be dealt with by Hugh Orde attacking Sinn Féin.
SDLP Policing Board member Alex Attwood said Mr Orde's comments were ill-judged, given his party's stance on policing reforms in the past five years.
