Father of murdered loyalist in talks with Irish officials

The father of a loyalist allegedly murdered by his colleagues in the Ulster Volunteer Force is meeting senior officials from the Taoiseach's office today as part of his campaign for an inquiry into the killing.

Twenty-two-year-old Belfast man Raymond McCord's badly beaten body was found in a quarry in north Belfast in November 1997.

The UVF has denied any involvement in the killing, but the dead man's father, also Raymond, believes the killing was ordered by a British informer working within the loyalist group.

Mr McCord also believes the authorities have failed to carry out a proper investigation in order to protect the informer.

"The British government have done nothing, the security forces have done nothing and unionist politicians have done nothing for us," he says.

"It's been nothing but a major cover-up. Nobody wants to do anything about it.

"I've discussed it with unionist politicians and they're attitude was: 'Don't rock the boat, don't expose what the security forces were doing.'"