THE latest talks to resolve the dispute between rival Garda representative groups begin today.
Officers of the Garda Federation, which represents about 2,500 gardai, mainly in Dublin, are meeting leaders of the Garda Representative Association.
The federation broke away from the GRA in 1994 and the latest talks are the ninth formal effort to resolve their differences.
The agreement to start talks follows a lengthy letter from the federation to the GRA, setting out its position.
The federation wants the elections to key posts in any new organisation to be carried out at a delegate conference trustees to be elected by the membership and not by the executive and to have an ombudsman called in to resolve internal disputes.
The federation said it wanted negotiations to last at most three days, and concluded by February 14th. It also said agreeable terms would have to be worked out to amalgamate the two organisations' staffs, financial arrangements and magazines.
The talks take place against the background of Government moves to end the dispute by introducing new legislation.