The Police Ombudsman of Northern Ireland Mrs Nuala O’Loan and the chief constable Sir Ronnie Flanagan met separately with the Policing Board today.
It is understood Mrs O’Loan again urged the Policing Board to place an outside officer in charge of the Omagh Bomb investigation.
She left a three-hour meeting today without making any comment.
She reportedly urged the scrutinising body to enforce the key recommendation contained in her scathing report on how the probe into the "Real IRA" atrocity has been handled so far.
One of the Board members, former Ulster Unionist, MP Mr John Taylor, told RTE News that Mrs’ O’Loan’s resignation would be the best way of restoring confidence in the police investigation into the Omagh bombing. Twenty-nine people including a mother pregnant with twins died in the explosion.
Mr Taylor said he was convinced it was riddled with mistakes.
Sir Ronnie reiterated his view that the current senior investigating officer, Detective Superintendent Brian McArthur, should remain in overall charge of the inquiry.
Today’s meeting was a bid to resolve the row that has erupted between the pair.
In her report, Mrs O’Loan accused Sir Ronnie of defective and flawed leadership and alleged a number of errors had seriously undermined the chances of catching the dissident republican terror gang responsible for the August 1998 attack on the Co Tyrone town which killed 29 people, including a mother pregnant with twins.
The ombudsman had insisted that an outside officer should be drafted in to head up the inquiry. But in a furious rebuttal of her claims the chief constable last month rejected her call.
In response Sir Ronnie announced plans to bring in a top detective from Merseyside in an advisory role to "quality assure" the investigation.
In what has become a defining moment for the Policing Board, whose membership includes political representatives from both unionist and nationalist parties, it must broker a compromise which will end the bitter exchange.
Neither Mrs O’Loan nor Sir Ronnie commented after leaving their respective hearings with the Policing Board.
PA