Ahern’s realism is welcome

TAOISEACH Bertie Ahern is to be commended for his positive and realistic approach to last night’s face-to-face meeting with a delegation from the political wing of the UDA, the North’s most lethal loyalist paramilitary organisation.

There is a bittersweet sense of irony in the fact that members of the Ulster Political Research Group (UPRG) feel they can make more progress with an Irish Taoiseach than with a British Prime Minister.

No less ironic was the role played by President Mary McAleese in opening the Taoiseach’s door militant loyalist. How things have changed.