IRA to top Ahern-Blair talks agenda

The IRA’s future plans will dominate discussions when Bertie Ahern meets Tony Blair today.

The Prime Minister and Bertie Ahern are having their first meeting in Downing Street since it was announced the IRA had decommissioned its arsenal of weapons last month.

Mr Ahern and Mr Blair are looking at ways of putting fresh momentum into the drive to get the North back on the path to the restoration of devolution as soon as possible.

However, until unionists can be convinced the IRA is no longer involved in terrorist or criminal activities they can expect little advance.

Also on the agenda is the investigation by the UK's Assets Recovery Agency into 250 properties in Manchester.

The operation, which involved raids and document seizures last week, is focused on a reputed £30m (€43.6m) IRA property empire.

It has allegedly been built up by reputed IRA chief of staff Thomas “Slab” Murphy, whose farm home straddles the border between Co Armagh and Co Louth.

A businessman whose home and office were raided by police involved in the investigation yesterday admitted business links to the family of the alleged IRA godfather.

Dermot Craven told a Manchester news conference that his company managed properties for Murphy’s brother Frank.

He insisted neither he nor his business partner had any connections with the alleged IRA chief.

Mr Ahern and Mr Blair will also look forward to the impending report by the Independent Monitoring Commission (IMC) on IRA activity – the first since the terrorist group announced it had stopped all actions.

There has been growing speculation that the IMC will report to the governments within days that the IRA has remained inactive since it announced the end to its armed struggle on July 28.

Unionists will need a lot more convincing and look towards another report due in January as a guide to the IRA’s commitment.

Even then, Ian Paisley’s Democratic Unionist Party will be unlikely to want to go anywhere near a power-sharing administration involving Sinn Féin.

Mr Ahern and Mr Blair will today try to map out a means of getting unionists on board come the New Year.

An Irish Government spokesman said they would be discussing “issues of current concern”.

Last week, Mr Blair met Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams, Mr Paisley and Ulster Unionists while Mr Ahern had talks with the SDLP.

When the leaders meet “there will be a particular focus on how renewed momentum can be given to the process in the months ahead”, said the spokesman.

Sinn Féin chief negotiator Martin McGuinness said republicans and nationalists wanted to hear from the two governments that “they are going to inject momentum into the political process”.

He said it was his belief that any genuine concerns held by unionists had been conclusively addressed by the recent historic IRA actions.