IRA arms row hits plans to restore power sharing

HOPES of an early return to power sharing in the North were dealt a serious blow last night as an extraordinary row erupted over whether the IRA held back part of its arsenal from decommissioning.

Foreign Minister Dermot Ahern's call for intensive talks on devolution was overshadowed by the dispute stoked by revelations in the Independent Monitoring Commission's report.

In an unprecedented public stand-off, IMC commissioner Lord Alderdice said he could not show the "degree of confidence" expressed by decommissioning chief General John de Chastelain that the IRA had not retained guns.