NI legacy cases: Arlene Foster seeks taoiseach meeting over IRA attacks

NI First Minister Arlene Foster said Dublin should "urgently assist" victims' families in a letter to Taoiseach Micheál Martin

There needs to be "a fresh examination" of the Irish state's involvement with the IRA to help deal with the past, according to DUP leader Arlene Foster.

She has written to Taoiseach (Irish PM) Micheál Martin to request a meeting.

Mrs Foster raised several Troubles-era murders in which collusion between An Garda Síochána (Irish police) and the IRA has been found or alleged.

An Irish government spokesman told RTÉ Mr Martin would meet with Mrs Foster "to discuss the issues raised".

In her letter, Mrs Foster stated Dublin should "urgently assist" the victims' families.

In 2013, the Smithwick Tribunal found that the Gardaí had leaked information to the IRA on the movements of two members of the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) murdered in an ambush.

Chief Supt Harry Breen and Supt Bob Buchanan were shot dead in 1989 as they crossed the border into Northern Ireland after a meeting in Dundalk Garda station.

'Many unanswered questions'

In her letter sent last week, Mrs Foster referenced the tribunal and stated some evidence it heard should be re-visited.

Northern Ireland's first minister also raised several other IRA attacks - the IRA Kingsmill massacre in 1976; the murder of Lord Justice Gibson and his wife Cecily in 1987; and the murder of Ian Sproule in 1991.

Her letter noted remarks by Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney in which, referring to the murder of Pat Finucane, he said there needed to be truth to help wider reconciliation.

She wrote: "There are many unanswered questions regarding the role of the Irish state in arming and assisting the IRA and there can be no doubt that all these matters need a fresh examination if we are all to get to the truth of what happened in our shared past."

In the letter, seen by the Sunday Independent and BBC News NI, she also thanked Mr Martin for his "swift condemnation" of a social media post by a Sinn Féin politician about the IRA bombing at Narrow Water in 1979, in which 18 soldiers lost their lives.

Brian Stanley, a member of the Irish parliament, later deleted his tweet saying it had been "inappropriate and insensitive".