THE British Prime Minister demanded condemnation from Mr Martin McGuinness and Mr Gerry Adams of Sinn Fein for the IRA Wilmslow bombing "without its or buts."
Predictably, he didn't get it. In fact, Mr Major was blamed for the failure to resolve the conflict".
Mr McGuinness conceded that the responsibility for these bombs rests with those who planted them". But the overall responsibility remained with Mr Major, "who undermined the potential created by the Irish peace process".
Still, the opportunity remained to resurrect the process, said Mr McGuinness. "Sinn Fein's commitment to reconstructing the peace process is absolute. The key is dialogue and the onus is on a British government to engage positively in the search for a lasting peace settlement."
The British government and unionist and other politicians condemned Mr McGuinness for uttering "weasel" words. How could a party expect to enter inclusive talks when its approach to the Westminster election appeared to be, in the words of Mr Major, one of "the ballot box in Northern Ire"land and a bombing campaign on the mainland"?
The same question has been directed at the SDLP and its leader, Mr John Hume, who, despite Canary Wharf, the killing of a soldier in Lisburn, gun and bomb attacks in the North, and now the Wilmslow explosions, has "resolutely defended his decision to maintain contact with Mr Adams.
Mr Hume has already created a partial defensive screen against criticism with his Irish News article last month in which he warned nationalists that a vote for Sinn Fein was a vote for the "armed struggle". To make a pact with Sinn Fein, therefore, would have been tantamount to asking nationalists to "support the killing of innocent human beings by the IRA"
There is no pact but nonetheless Mr Hume is still endeavouring in his communications with Mr Adams to achieve an IRA ceasefire and bring Sinn Fein into talks. Yesterday's bombs will strengthen the case of his detractors, who argue that all he is doing is lending credibility to the republican movement in its political and paramilitary guises.
The SDLP deputy leader, Mr Seamus Mallon warned that Sinn Fein should not rely too much on the party's patience and good nature. He had no stated criticism of the Hume Adams initiative but said the electorate must note the bombs with alarm and question whether Sinn Fein was "seriously seeking a democratic mandate".
Republicans must face up to some stark choices, he said. "The IRA must decide now whether it will become political. If it doesn't, it will make it impossible for the political process to seek involvement from the republican movement.
"These bombs will have done "nothing to bring about inclusive dialogue, and can only further poison the relations between the two communities in Northern Ireland," he said.
"If the republican movement is genuine about negotiations, then it must realise how counterproductive these actions are. At a time when many of us are hoping for a fully inclusive negotiating context after the general election these incidents will have done further damage," said Mr Mallon.
