The former Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr David Andrews, poured scorn on the three Coalition leaders lack of involvement in the efforts to get a renewed IRA ceasefire, writes Geraldine Kennedy, Political Correspondent.

He told a Fianna Fail parliamentary party meeting in Leinster House yesterday that the main contacts to break the impasse were taking place between Mr John Hume and the British government. "The Irish Government are not in the loop," he added.

Paying tribute to the Fianna Fail leader's surefooted handling of the issue, Mr Andrews said that it was vital that Mr Bertie Ahern would continue to stay involved.

In a report on the situation in Northern Ireland, Mr Ahern told the meeting that he was hopeful but realistic about the attempts to restore the ceasefire. This could depend on the response from the British government to the suggestions made by Mr Hume.