THE possibility of the Fianna Fail leader, Mr Bertie Ahern, meeting a Sinn Fein delegation before he becomes Taoiseach next week has almost completely receded.
Fianna Fail sources have said it is now next to impossible for Sinn Fein to convince people of their good faith" after the IRA killing of two RUC constables in Lurgan, Co Armagh, last Monday.
The Fianna Fail stance was underlined on last night's RTE Prime Time programme by Mr Ray Burke TD, the party's spokesman on foreign affairs. "It's not a question of our officials going to talk to Sinn Fein," he said. "It's a question of Sinn Fein making contact through official channels to tell us that they are prepared to move forward with an unequivocal ceasefire. Anything else is meaningless at this stage."
Meanwhile, the Northern Ireland Secretary, Dr Mo Mowlam, met political representatives of the loyalist paramilitaries yesterday afternoon in an attempt to deflect loyalists from retaliation.
Dr Mowlam visited the Shankill Road and had separate meetings with representatives of the Progressive Unionist Party (PUP), which is linked to the UVF, and the Ulster Democratic Party (UDP), which has connections with the UDA.
Both Mr David Ervine, of the PUP, and Mr Gary McMichael, of the UDP, said that they were attempting to restrain loyalist paramilitaries from responding to the Lurgan killings. Mr Ervine described the situation as dangerous and Mr McMichael said that the North could now be at a "defining point in the peace process.
The Rev Roy Magee, who helped to broker the loyalist ceasefire, urged loyalists not to play into the hands of the IRA by embarking on further violence.
The Lurgan killings have added to the growing isolation of Sinn Fein from the political peace process. While Mr Ahern yesterday left the door open for a further meeting with Sinn Fein, Fianna Fail sources were saying that such a meeting was now highly unlikely.
"People will view the killings as an act of total cynicism - that the IRA waited until after the elections before doing something like this. It is difficult to go through a series of discussions with Sinn Fein while this is going on. The rug is being pulled from under the argument that these talks should continue," one Fianna Fail source said.
Meanwhile, the SDLP leader, Mr John Hume, indicated after meeting Mr Ahern in Dublin that he was prepared to hold further meetings with the Sinn Fein president, Mr Gerry Adams, if he believed this could help restore an IRA ceasefire. However, a party spokesman insisted that the SDLP's patience with the republican movement was not limitless.
Mr Adams declined opportunities yesterday to condemn the IRA killings and denied that Sinn Fein and the IRA were engaged in a dual strategy of "the Armalite and the ballot box". He indicated that he was still striving to achieve a new IRA ceasefire without splitting the republican movement.
A man was being questioned last night by RUC detectives about the killing of Constables Roland John Graham and David Johnston.