Frances Fitzgerald asks gardaí to trace IRA cash

Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald has called on gardaí to examine where money held or obtained by the Provisional IRA has been placed, amid ongoing criticism from Sinn Féin over political attacks on the party.

The senior Cabinet member made the request as her Fine Gael party colleague, Foreign Affairs Minister Charlie Flanagan said he is opposed to “car crash politics” before a crunch meeting with Northern Ireland’s secretary of state Theresa Villiers tomorrow.

Ms Fitzgerald said at the weekend she is “extremely concerned” that alleged criminality by former members of the Provisional IRA has the potential to “subvert democracy and law and order”.