Ahern 'won't apologise to Sinn Féin'

TAOISEACH Bertie Ahern has no intention of apologising to Sinn Féin "under any circumstances" for contending its leadership had prior knowledge of the Northern Bank raid, Justice Minister McDowell said yesterday.

As detectives revealed they have up to 1,000 lines of inquiry in their investigations, the Justice Minister robustly rejected the IRA's latest denial of having any involvement in the December 20 robbery.

Mr Michael McDowell was responding to furious criticisms of the Taoiseach by Gerry Adams yesterday, during which the Sinn Féin leader called on Mr Ahern to withdraw his "offensive" accusations.