Mansergh defends Taoiseach's statement about Real IRA

A Fianna Fail Senator who met Real IRA representatives after the Omagh bombing has defended the Taoiseach's statement to the Dáil in which he insisted that no member of the Government made contact with the Real IRA at the time.

Martin Mansergh had met with the Real IRA's leader in December of 1998 while he was the Taoiseach's special adviser on the North, to ask him to disband the terror group.