THE British Labour Party's Northern Ireland spokeswoman, Dr Mo Mowlam, said last night she hoped the decision to send 500 troops to the North was a "temporary and precautionary" measure.
At the end of a visit to Dublin where she met Government and Opposition leaders, she said there was general agreement on the importance of the British and Irish working closely together. "That's absolutely crucial in the days and weeks ahead."
She was impressed by the open mindedness of the various parties, even though the idea of Northern Ireland elections was "not a favourite" with many of the groups in Dublin. "The electoral process is only a runner, only a possibility if you have widespread agreement. At the moment, you very clearly do not."
On the Government's proposal for "proximity talks", she said "What we are all about is moving into all party talks. There's a number of different mechanisms around to get us there but whether you call them proximity talks, intensive talks or designed talks, I think there is no doubt that some intensive talking would be beneficial to the process."
During a meeting with Fianna Fail, she was given a copy of Mr Bertie Ahern's recent Dail speech, which sharply criticised the British Labour Party. "I robustly defended our position as an opposition party, as Bertie did his," she said.
At a press conference after his meeting with Dr Mowlam, the Tanaiste, Mr Spring defended the Government's decision to suspend ministerial meetings with the Sinn Fein leadership. "The Irish Government cannot meet Mr Adams because of what happened in London last Friday. That is the consistent position taken by all Irish governments since the foundation of the State.
"We did not cause the bomb to go off in London last Friday, it was the IRA. They are the ones who have broken the relationship."
When asked if he was concerned about the position of Mr Gerry Adams, who was seen as crucial to the achievement of another cease fire, Mr Spring replied "We've all paid tributes to Mr Adams and, indeed, Mr McGuinness, for the work that they have done over many years, particularly leading up to the ceasefire which they convinced the IRA to bring about in 1994. His position is very important obviously."