It was an unusual presentation. A block of cannabis resin and a selection of knives clattered on to the polished table in the officers' quarters at Garda HQ in the Phoenix Park. Subtlety is not the Garda Representative Association's style when making its point about pay.

The GRA was giving an initial presentation to Department of Justice officials on its case for a substantial pay rise, before the first offer. The argument about the uniqueness of a garda's job could not have been made more forcefully. The drugs and weapons were passed around for examination by the men who would consider a Garda pay increase.

Since April 1st, when the Government offered gardai 5.5 per cent, the GRA has refused to meet in formal negotiations across that same table. The Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors has re-entered talks on the basis of a 7 per cent offer for which it must agree to productivity. But the GRA, with 8,500 members, has dug its heels in.

The Government agreed to reopen negotiations on the Programme for Competitiveness and Work before Christmas, after basic pay had fallen behind. The GRA says it was promised a two-phase deal: the first would be a straight increase in basic salary, and the second would bring a smaller increase in return for productivity and efficiency deals.

This week the GRA brought to a vote its long-threatened plan to disrupt the Irish leg of the Tour de France and unanimously decided to stage another "national day of protest" on the Tour's first day.

GRA members are refusing to issue parking and speeding tickets, to co-operate with information technology and police concerts and sporting events. Next Wednesday they will refuse to drive official cars or co-operate with new court procedures.

Garda management and senior officials had hoped the internal elections within the GRA would dilute its militancy. But this hope was shaken by the "blue flu" day when 4,586 gardai rang in sick on May 1st, more than 80 per cent of those rostered to work.

This week's re-election of the president, John Healy, by a large majority, and his vice-president, Michael Kirby, at the GRA conference has been interpreted as a further vote of support for the head-on approach taken so far.

But while the talk was tough, both sides know they now have two months to resolve the dispute.

The good-cop-bad-cop approach has the Minister for Justice, Mr O'Donoghue, telling gardai he will do everything he can for their claim, while the Minister for Finance, Mr McCreevy, repeats mantra-like the need to stick to public pay parameters.

Two-thirds of the 10,600-strong Garda force have more than 12 years' service. But only one in five people who enter the force can expect to be promoted above the rank of garda, according to the GRA. But the settlement of this round of pay talks still leaves the GRA demand for a permanent annual or bi-annual police pay review body.

On the public relations front the GRA is smarting from its treatment at the hands of the media over the "blue flu" protest. The warning by Garda Commissioner, Mr Pat Byrne, that gardai would be disciplined if they took part in further protests has drawn another line in the sand. Mr Byrne is in the difficult situation of being undermined as a Commissioner who cannot control his force.

One conference delegate suggested further protests could involve mounting checkpoints on every major road in the State. The trump card of the Tour de France is also seen as a powerful negotiating lever.

The two sides are expected to meet unofficially next week, for what they describe as "talks about talks". By then, the focus will be on July 11th.