O’Donoghue interview - Private army claim an election ploy

With an authority worthy of the Progressive Democrats, if not superior to it, Minister John O’Donoghue declares in an interview with this newspaper today that Sinn Féin still retains a private army.

His assertion is predicated on the fact that the IRA has not gone away, and that Fianna Fáil would not be entering any government arrangement, formal or informal, with the other republican party.

It is an intriguing, and rather perplexing, proposition for a number of reasons.