Sex offender initiative – Information accord is only a start

WORRIED parents up and down the country will welcome news of an agreement to be signed within weeks between the Republic on the North on an exchange of information about sex offenders.

Significantly, this was announced by Justice Minister McDowell last night at a seminar on Law and Order co-sponsored by Thomas Crosbie Holdings and the new British ambassador to Ireland, David Reddaway.

In a welcome sign of the times, the attendance included PSNI Chief Constable Hugh Orde, and Garda Commissioner Noel Conroy.

Hopefully, the information accord will enable gardaí track down sex offenders from the North with greater efficiency than their search for Paul Hunter Redpath.

Unless the new deal is supported in the Republic by a mechanism designed to keep tabs on sex offenders from the North, it will be ineffective.