Justice Minister fails to show at conference for first time in 31 years

IT was a case of talking to the invisible man when the president of the organisation representing the country’s front-line gardaí addressed the Minister for Justice.

And maybe it was just as well that Dermot Ahern wasn’t in his chair at the annual GRA conference — but his ears must have been burning.

For the first time in 31 years, a Minister for Justice failed to show at the conference — Mr Ahern citing important business in the Dáil as the reason for keeping him away.