Ahern vows to seek British action on collusion issue

Minister for Foreign Affairs Dermot Ahern has promised to press the British government to take action on the issue of collusion between the security services and loyalist paramilitaries.

Mr Ahern was speaking after talks in Co Louth this morning with representatives of Sinn Féin and the SDLP in the wake of the Police Ombudsman's report earlier this week.

The SDLP said it wanted to discuss the need for prosecutions against loyalists and police officers, while Sinn Féin said it wanted to discuss the need for the Irish Government to take decisive action on the collusion issue.

Speaking after the talks, Mr Ahern said the British Government would have to deal with the problem of collusion between the police and paramilitaries.

"It's not going to go away," he said. "I think the British prime minister and Peter Hain are well aware of that, they agree with that."