Garda chief to join Ahern for Blair meeting

GARDA Commissioner Noel Conroy will accompany Taoiseach Bertie Ahern when he meets British Prime Minister Tony Blair on Tuesday.

It is the first time that a garda officer has accompanied the Taoiseach to such a high-level meeting and it indicates the Government’s determination to maintain political pressure on Sinn Féin, as bitter recriminations continue about who was to blame for the Northern Bank robbery.

Mr Conroy will travel to Downing Street to attend one of two meetings between the two governments. The commissioner and PSNI chief constable Huge Orde will brief Mr Ahern and Mr Blair, as well as Justice Minister Michael McDowell and Northern Secretary Paul Murphy, on the robbery, as well as other criminal and paramilitary activities alleged to have been carried out by the IRA.