EFFORTS by Mr John Hume to bring about another IRA ceasefire had the full support of the Government, the Taoiseach said. Mr Bruton described them as "particularly helpful and useful".

Calling for a renewed IRA ceasefire, the Taoiseach said: "It is the means whereby we can have all-party negotiations including Sinn Fein."

He said it was important that the ceasefire be unequivocal, with no going back, and it was very important that that be made clear in the way in which the ceasefire was framed, if it occurred.

The matter was raised on the Order of Business by the Fianna Fail leader, Mr Bertie Ahern, who said that the Mitchell principles were a sufficiently demanding test for adherence to the exclusively political means. Far from trying to delay Sinn Fein's entry to the multi-party talks, they should be getting them to sign up formally to the Mitchell principles, thereby having them bound to the same rules as everybody else.