THE Government is insisting that the reinstatement of the IRA ceasefire remains a prerequisite to Sinn Fein's participation in all party talks. This is in spite of Mr Gerry Adams's "absolute" commitment to the six Mitchell Principles.
Yesterday's comments by Mr Adams drew a unanimous welcome from parties in Leinster House but both Government and Opposition emphasised the need for a new ceasefire.
Senior sources indicated it was "not credible to start pretending the IRA can continue to do business while Sinn Fein goes into talks . .. a ceasefire remains the bottom line for an entry to negotiations.
The Northern Ireland Office, in a statement, repeated that the British Irish Communique made it clear that Sinn Fein could only engage in talks through an "unequivocal restoration" of a cease fire from the IRA, "with whom Sinn Fein is inextricably linked".
The Taoiseach, Mr Bruton, and the British Prime Minister, Mr Major, held a 45 minute telephone conversation shortly after 8 p.m. last night which a Government source said was "a constructive review of the arrangements for all party talks".
A Government statement said that the "Sinn Fein commitments represent a most significant step in the movement to inclusive all party negotiations. They underline the importance of the Mitchell Report in that process. The Government believe that all sides should now agree to pursue the different elements of the report in resolving outstanding issues on decommissioning.
"The Government hope that today's statement can be built on and that the IRA reinstate its ceasefire so that the circumstances will be right, including as set down and agreed in the February Communique, for the success of fully inclusive all Party talks on June 10th."
Privately, Government sources last night viewed Mr Adams's remarks as helpful, interesting but inconclusive. His willingness to accept the six Mitchell principles was not seen as surprising in anything but timing for two reasons.
Firstly, Sinn Fein had indicated that the Mitchell report would have been acceptable to the party when Mr Major set it aside in mid January in favour of an election as the direct route to all party talks.
Secondly, Government sources also observed that the Sinn Fein leadership would have known that the Mitchell principles, as distinct from the modalities of decommissioning, would have been the first item on the table at the start of negotiations next month.
The significance of the statement, in the Government's view, is that it comes at a crucial time in Anglo Irish negotiations, attempting to set out an agenda and, more importantly, the chronology for the first few days of the negotiations after June 10th.
The Tanaiste, Mr Spring, and the Northern Secretary, Sir Patrick Mayhew, meeting in London tomorrow are due to give political direction to the political and decommissioning elements of the talks, in the wake of Mr Major's statement in The Irish Times last week.
At tomorrow meeting they are expected to flesh out the chronology of the negotiations, especially what has to be achieved on the political front before decommissioning can be addressed, and the potential role to be played by Senator George Mitchell.
Government sources were inclined last night to put a benign interpretation on Mr Adams's statement. There could be no possible grounds, they said, for the Sinn Fein leadership believing it could enter the all party talks on June 10th on the basis of its acceptance of the Mitchell principles alone. It was always explicitly understood, they stated, that an IRA ceasefire would be required for Sinn Fein to have a place at the negotiating table.
The Fianna Fail leader, Mr Bertie Ahern, described Mr Adams's statement as "potentially highly significant".
"I hope that this will be the prelude to a reinstatement of the IRA ceasefire of 31st August 1994 on a complete and definitive basis. It should be noted that the fourth Mitchell principle commits parties to renounce for themselves, and to oppose any effort by others, to use force, or threaten to use force, to influence the course or the outcome of all party negotiations."
The leader of the Progressive Democrats, Ms Mary Harney, said it was vital that the two governments get the format right for the opening session of all party negotiations.
In Washington, the Co Chairman of the Ad Hoc Committee on Irish Affairs, Congressman Peter King, welcomed the statement by Mr Adams and said that "the ball is now back in the British court". Mr King said that Mr Major, "now has to come up with more specific proposals on the actual process".