Reynolds' secret meeting

Ervine death: Former taoiseach Albert Reynolds outlined yesterday how his daughter Cathy drove him to a secret meeting with …

Ervine death:Former taoiseach Albert Reynolds outlined yesterday how his daughter Cathy drove him to a secret meeting with loyalist leaders David Ervine and Gusty Spence in the early 1990s.

Mr Reynolds was attempting to broker paramilitary ceasefires. Mr Ervine and Mr Spence feared for their lives if it became known they were meeting him.

In an interview with Newstalk radio, Mr Reynolds said he had dispensed with his official car and driver and got his daughter to drive him to the Berkeley Court hotel in Dublin.

Mr Reynolds said Dundalk had been suggested as a location for the meeting but this was dropped for security reasons. Cathy had driven him from his apartment near the hotel. "There was no security. They arrived at the hotel car park and came up on the lift to the top apartment. When they were going, three hours later, they went the same way."