My secret meeting with Real IRA, by Omagh father

The father of a 12-year-old schoolboy killed in the Omagh bombing today confirmed he had held face-to-face talks with the political wing of the Real IRA.

Victor Barker, whose son James was one of 29 people killed by the Real IRA in August 1998, said he met members of the 32 County Sovereignty Movement in Swords, Co Dublin, last December in a bid to persuade them to abandon violence.