The British policeman who witnessed the end of the IRA and Sinn Fein's decision to support policing looks set to leave Northern Ireland.

As chief constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) Hugh Orde witnessed the IRA's historic decision to decommission its weapons and dismantle one of the deadliest paramilitary organizations in the world. He was the first chief constable to hold face-to-face talks with Sin Fein leaders Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness. He also witnessed major changes, including hundreds of the RUC "old guard" choosing to retire rather than stay under Orde's decision to dramatically change policing in Northern Ireland. He has also been credited with playing a major part in making the PSNI much more acceptable to Nationalists, with recruitment from the Catholic community now standing at 25%. But with Sinn Fein and the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) appearing to have found agreement over the transfer of policing and justice powers, the 50-year-old has now signaled that he may be set to leave Northern Ireland. On Monday Orde confirmed that he had applied to become the next police chief of London. It is almost 10 years since he first came to Northern Ireland. In 1999 he took charge of the day-to-day investigation into the murder of human rights lawyer Pat Finucane. During his time heading that inquiry Orde was privy to overwhelming evidence that members of the RUC had colluded with Loyalist paramilitaries to kill Nationalists. He took control of the PSNI in 2002 and still has two years to run on his current contract as chief constable. However, throughout his tenure Orde has regularly courted controversy. He regularly clashed with senior judges, accusing them of being soft on criminals, and publicly criticized what he saw as a political vacuum at Stormont. He has also publicly stated that he believed in the benefit of the British government talking to extremist groups such as al-Qaeda.

Last year it was revealed that he'd had an affair with an undercover policewoman and was the father of her baby boy.

On Monday bookmaker Paddy Power slashed the odds on Orde becoming the next permanent London police chief - making him their 5/2 favorite.