Anti-IRA 'rottweiler' in power

The Irish Republic's most acerbic and aggressive politician - known for his anti-IRA stance - is to become the country's new Deputy Prime Minister.

Michael McDowell, the Minister for Justice, was elected yesterday unopposed as leader of the Progressive Democrat Party.

Although the PD is a small party it plays an important role in Irish politics since it has for years been in government as coalition partner with the much larger Fianna Fail Party.

A senior barrister, McDowell has been active in public life for decades, though his trademark political aggression - he has been referred to as a "rottweiler" - means that he has made many enemies.

He described the IRA as "a massive criminal organisation which kills, tortures and plunders", accusing Sinn Fein of "vomit-making, stomach-turning hypocrisy".

Sinn Fein has accused McDowell of putting "personal ambition and narrow sectional interest" before the peace process and of being "in fear and trepidation" of further republican political advances.

- INDEPENDENT