The RUC Chief Constable, Mr Ronnie Flanagan, yesterday said he was confident the perpetrators of the Omagh bombing would be brought to justice.
Mr Flanagan, accompanied by the Garda Commissioner, Mr Pat Byrne, was speaking at a Crimestoppers conference organised by Dublin Chamber of Commerce. Mr Byrne said co-operation between the two police forces was "at an all-time high".
In his speech to the conference, Mr Flanagan said the two forces shared a common history as both had emerged from the Royal Irish Constabulary. He said the objectives of the RIC, drawn up 176 years ago by Sir Robert Peel, were "the protection of life, the protection of property, preservation of the peace, prevention of crime and detection of crime" and were still the same objectives pursued by the RUC to this day.
The Garda Deputy Commissioner responsible for operations, Mr Noel Conroy, delivered the Garda address to the conference. He spoke of the recent changes to legislation introduced in the wake of the Omagh bombing.
"The refusal of an accused to answer questions material to the investigation of an offence is a provision that has aroused some controversy, but in the experience of police officers innocent people usually demand the right to speak; those who are guilty invoke the privilege of silence; and ultimately the courts supervise police action, whatever it may be," he said.
Speaking alongside Mr Flanagan after the conference, Mr Byrne said: "I can put on record that the co-operation that exists between both our forces is at an all-time high. At all levels in the forces - the Chief Constable and I have known each other for a long time - right down to operational level both formally and informally there is excellent co-operation".
Asked if there was any prospect of reducing police levels at the Border, given the reduction in terrorist-related crime, Mr Byrne said: "We are very cautious when we decide to move people away from anything like this. It is early days yet.
"We have to keep our finger on the pulse to ensure we have no return to any kind of paramilitary activity. It is too early to make dramatic strategic changes to any of our people."
Asked about his assessment of the current security threat from paramilitary groups, the Chief Constable said the RUC's view was that the cessations announced by paramilitary groups appeared to be holding.
The exception to these adherents was the group called the Continuity IRA. Mr Flanagan said the current threat from this group "can't be construed to be of a high order, but it can't be dismissed".
He said the RUC could not be complacent, and he would ensure his force had the capability to protect the public.
Mr Flanagan said he welcomed the commission of inquiry into the RUC headed by the former governor of Hong Kong, Mr Chris Patten.
Any "cool, rational" examination of the force could only enhance it, he said.
It was his ambition to remove barriers between the RUC and the communities it served. In an apparent reference to Sinn Fein, Mr Flanagan said it was somewhat ironic that "those who were responsible for the creation of these barriers are shouting loudest for their removal". The conference also heard that fraudulent insurance claims amounting to as much as £50 million are being investigated by insurance companies each year.
Mr Pat Tynan, head of claims with Hibernian Insurance, told the conference that about 5 per cent of insurance claims were treated as fraudulent either from the point of view of being false or exaggerated.
Mr Tynan said there were clear trends in increased public liability claims where people were suspected of staging accidents in order to claim from companies or public authorities.
It was standard practice in the insurance industry to have full-time teams of investigators examining claims suspected of being fraudulent.
The conference was the first to be held with the Crimestoppers theme. The chamber introduced the scheme, which also runs in Northern Ireland, to encourage the public to help police by offering rewards for information leading to the solving of crimes.