The IRA's second declaration within 24 hours that the Irish and British governments are not heeding its warnings on the peace process does not herald a return to violence, the two governments believe. Mark Hennessy, Gerry Moriarty and Dan Keenan report.
The IRA statement, sent to RTÉ News at 6 p.m. last night, followed on the heel of bitter criticism during the day of the Government by Sinn Féin leaders, Mr Gerry Adams and Mr Martin McGuinness.
In its latest statement, the IRA said: "The two governments are trying to play down the importance of our statement [ on Wednesday] because they are making a mess of the peace process. Do not underestimate the seriousness of the situation."
Earlier, the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, had sought to play down the threat posed by the first IRA declaration, which warned that it would not "remain quiescent within this unacceptable and unstable situation".
In Dundalk, Co Louth, Mr Ahern said: "I don't read the IRA statement in a negative fashion. Quite frankly, they are saying what is a fact: that negotiations have broken down, that everything is off the table. That is the normal course in negotiations."
Last night, Government sources emphasised that Mr Ahern had repeatedly insisted over the past few weeks that lines had to be kept open to Sinn Féin, though he had faced criticism for so doing.
Unhappy with the Taoiseach's handling of the peace process, Mr Adams in Belfast warned Mr Ahern and the British Prime Minister, Mr Tony Blair, not to seek confrontation. "We have told them both that confrontation is not the way forward," Mr Adams said. "Otherwise the peace process could be as transient as [ Mr Blair's time] in Downing Street."
Last night, Irish sources privately said the IRA appeared to have believed that Wednesday's statement would have caused near panic in Dublin and London. "When it didn't, they got annoyed, so they issued a second statement to make sure that people got the message," one source told The Irish Times, although adding that he did not believe it amounted to a declaration of a return to violence.
However, the Fine Gael leader, Mr Enda Kenny, said: "The latest IRA statement is tantamount to a threat against the Irish people and our State. Such threats have no place in any process of negotiations. The democratic political parties must stand firm in the face of this attempted intimidation."
The Labour Party leader, Mr Pat Rabbitte, said the latest IRA statement was "a sinister development as it contains an implied threat to democratically elected governments and to the people of these islands. Democrats should stand firm in the face of IRA belligerence."
Meanwhile, the Independent Monitoring Commission report into the Northern Bank raid, received by the two governments yesterday, lays the blame clearly at the door of the IRA. Although the report will not be published until next week, the IMC says it would have recommended Sinn Féin's expulsion from the Northern Executive for six months had the Executive and Assembly been in place.
However, the four-person body, chaired by former Alliance Party leader Lord John Alderdice, does recommend that Sinn Féin MLAs should suffer a cut to their pay and allowances.
Meanwhile, both Mr Adams and Mr McGuinness separately warned that Sinn Féin would "no longer interpret" for the IRA or "be a conduit" between it and the two governments.
In Belfast yesterday afternoon, the Chief Constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland, Mr Hugh Orde, said the IRA had "the capacity, the capability, but not the intent" to return to violence.
Asked about allegations that the IRA orchestrated the pre-Christmas Northern Bank raid, Sinn Féin's Mr McGuinness last night said the robbery was a criminal act" carried out by people "who do not care tuppence" about the peace process.
Rejecting Sinn Féin's charges that the Government was being confrontational, Mr Ahern said Sinn Féin and the IRA must realise "that there are a few realities" in the peace process. "We are not in favour of exclusion, we are not in favour of humiliating anybody. We want to engage. We are not getting into the old policies of blaming people."
He added: "We cannot make the peace process work and achieve the restoration of the institutions until we have a complete end to criminality, paramilitary activity and the decommissioning issue. Let's get on it. They are going to have to be dealt with. If it is impossible to deal with them somebody should say that, but nobody has said that."