THE British Labour Party leader, Mr Tony Blair, said he will give, Ireland "exactly the same priority" as the Conservative Party does if he becomes the next prime minister.
Speaking in Dublin yesterday after meeting the Taoiseach, Mr Bruton, and a number of other political leaders, Mr Blair said "any person who is responsible, who is the prime minister of my country" should do everything they can to move the peace process forward.
"To squander it (the peace process) would be criminally irresponsible. I will make it my priority but I will do so consistent with the principles we set out. The sense of urgency is there but it requires that it be made absolutely, clear that democracy, not violence, is the way forward for the future, so that we can construct a settlement that actually lasts," he said.
It was in government that the Labour Party would be able to do more to assist the process. According to Mr Blair, the present stalemate can be breached if an IRA ceasefire is called.
"We can have the talks that we all want to see. I believe that everybody desires this peace process to go forward. We have come this far; for the first time in a generation, people have the chance to really make something of their lives again in Northern Ireland. We will all try our best but it has got to be done in a way where the perfectly legitimate fears of people are taken account of", Mr Blair said.
Asked how he would measure the genuineness of another IRAN" ceasefire, he replied that his evaluation would be based on "a whole number of different factors". He did not disagree with the British government's position on that, he added.
"We all want to make sure that any ceasefire that is called is sincere, that it is going to last, that it means, then, everybody who takes, part in any talks can take part safer in the knowledge that whatever happens, the democratic path is being taken, not the path of violence," he said.
The Taoiseach said the British Labour leader had impressed upon him his deep interest in "solving the issues that remain to be solved as far as the peace process is concerned". Mr Blair was committed to conflict resolution here and elsewhere in the world, he said.
Mr Bruton said he regarded the recent arms finds and paramilitary activity along the Border as hardly signalling a ceasefire declaration.
"It is very important to recognise that the Mitchell principles, which anyone entering the talks has to accept, preclude the threat of violence or preparation for violence. It is very important that the republican movement as a whole make up its mind if it is interested in a peace process or not," he added.
The preparation of bombs, punishment beatings or targeting individuals had no place in a peace process. The Irish people want this to stop and there was no mandate for this type of preparatory activity for violence, Mr Bruton said.
Meanwhile, asked if he was embarrassed by BBC reports that the Labour Party orchestrated a campaign to have him nominated ash the Today programme's "Person of the Year", Mr Blair said he knew absolutely nothing about it. If he had not made the first five, the party had "obviously not organised it very well.
Following his meeting with Mr Blair, the Fianna Fail leader, Mr Bertie Ahern, said the difference between Sinn Fein and the British government seemed "very narrow". It was "crucially important" that that gap should be bridged.