Arlene Foster is leading a delegation of IRA victims to Dublin to seek acknowledgement of what it sees as security failures on the part of the Irish government during the Troubles.

Families and members of a Lisnaskea-based victims group are due to meet the Taoiseach to "tell their story".

DUP Minister Foster said: "Their stories are not only harrowing but they highlight the lack of adequate security provision on the Republic of Ireland side of the border during the troubles.

"These were attacks often planned from within the Republic of Ireland by people from the Republic, and returning there afterwards meant the terrorists were provided an effective 'safe haven'."

A spokesman for the victims group, the South East Fermanagh Foundation (SEFF) has "waited a long time for a meeting to take place where they will have the opportunity of presenting to the government of the Irish Republic the truth of what occurred throughout the county over a 30-plus year period."

But Taosieach Enda Kenny told relatives of the 10 men killed in the 1976 Kingsmills massacre in County Armagh last month that he could not apologise for the IRA.

A DUP motion at Stormont last month narrowly won by 47 votes to 46, demanding that that the Irish government apologise.

Mrs Foster said: "We do ask them to acknowledge both their acts of commission in relation to collusion and their acts of omission in not seeking to secure the border of Ireland."

She described the Provisional IRA’s campaign as "ethnic cleansing", while SEFF has said the Irish government's record in dealing with extradition cases is "unacceptable".

(IT)