The Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, is due to meet representatives from the North’s Police Federation in Dublin later today.

The SDLP has reached angrily to claims by the North’s Police Federation that lives could have been saved if the party had been more supportive of policing in the past.

The North’s Police Federation has called on the British government to fund civil actions against paramilitaries who cannot be convicted in the criminal courts due to lack of evidence.

The chairman of the North’s Police Federation has told the group’s annual conference that paramilitaries are re-arming ahead of a predicted collapse in the Irish peace process.