Members of the Policing Board have drawn up a short-list of three candidates for the post of Northern Ireland's chief constable.

Two of those in the running are senior officers in the Police Service of Northern Ireland, Alan McQuillan and Chris Albiston, the Policing Board confirmed.

The third is Metropolitan Police Deputy Assistant Commissioner Hugh Orde.

Mr McQuillan is the assistant chief constable for Belfast.

Assistant Chief Constable: Alan McQuillan

Assistant Chief Constable Crime Chris Albiston has recently returned to Northern Ireland after leading the policing operations in Kosovo.

The third is Hugh Orde, who is leading the investigation into the murder of Belfast solicitor, Pat Finucane.

He is a deputy assistant commissioner with the Metropolitan Police.

In total five officers applied for the job, including Maria Wallis, who withdrew on Thursday, having been appointed chief constable of the Devon and Cornwall Constabulary.

Assessments for the post will be held in the week commencing 13 May, with interviews commencing in the week 27 May.

Last month, Acting Chief Constable Colin Cramphorn ruled himself out of the running for the post.

He said he believed the Policing Board was looking for a chief constable of a style and type that he could never be.

Mr Cramphorn took over as acting chief constable when Sir Ronnie Flanagan stepped down from the post at the beginning of April.

Hugh Orde: Investigation team

The police officer has recently been interviewed for a number of chief constable posts in England and Wales.

Sir Ronnie oversaw the start of sweeping changes to Northern Ireland's police service.

The Policing Board asked Mr Cramphorn, who had been the deputy chief constable, to act up until a new chief constable was chosen.

Board chairman Desmond Rea said: "The appointment of a new chief constable will be on the basis of merit in respect of the candidate's capability to undertake successfully the duties of the post set against a number of pre-agreed key criteria.

"Candidates will be asked to display a range of key competences developed through their experience of operational and community policing, policy, planning and resource management at chief officer level and to have displayed the capacity for leadership and vision essential to the demands of the post.

"We are naturally disappointed that DCC Wallis has withdrawn her application but would wish to thank her for her interest and wish her every success in her new post."

The members of the Policing Board selection panel for chief constable are Professor Rea, Vice Chairman Denis Bradley, the SDLP's Joe Byrne, Ulster Unionist Fred Cobain, Barry Gilligan, Pauline McCabe, Suneil Sharma and the DUP's Sammy Wilson.

The RUC became the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) last November, when the first recruits to the newly renamed service started training.

The changes to policing came as part of sweeping reforms to the service under the terms of the 1998 Good Friday Agreement peace accord.