THE Sinn Fein president, Mr Gerry Adams, refused to confirm or deny the reports of moves to agree terms for a new IRA ceasefire. He pointed out that he was in regular contact with the SDLP leader, Mr John Hume, about the political situation.
He said: "John Hume and I haven't stopped working. We continue to work. We have been closely focused since the peace process collapse to create the conditions for it to be restored and the restoration of proper talks aimed at bringing about agreement and a negotiated settlement.
"It is not about detective work but about dealing with the substantive issues that need to be dealt with and about recognition that the vehicle for all that is proper talks which are created on the basis of equality. The least said sometimes in these matters, the better."
The Northern Ireland Office said there had been no meetings with Sinn Fein or the IRA and none was anticipated in the absence of a ceasefire. A spokesman said: "We do, of course have regular discussions with all Northern Ireland party leaders about all these issues, but we are not saying anything in private that we are not prepared to say in public.
"If a new ceasefire was declared, we have made quite clear that we would need to look very carefully at what was being said and what was happening on the ground. It would obviously take time to establish that any ceasefire was genuinely unequivocal.
"As we have said many times, after the murderous attacks we have seen, there could be no question of the IRA declaring a ceasefire one day and Sinn Fein joining, the talks the next."
The DUP deputy leader, Mr Peter Robinson, accused the British government of duplicity. He said it had gone behind the backs of the people of Northern Ireland to make contact with republicans.
He said the IRA could never be trusted and that the government was behaving in a clearly foolish and naive way.
"They have been bitten once before and they are now prepared to put, their hand out to be bitten again. It is atrocious that they have not learned their lesson from the first time round."
The Progressive Unionist Party spokesman, Mr David Ervine, said he was not surprised by the reports of secret negotiations. "We always assumed Sinn Fein was in contact with the government, anyway, and we always assumed that Gerry Adams had the backing of the [IRA] Army Council," he said.