THE search for political accommodation in Northern Ireland must now proceed without Sinn Fein in the wake of the Lurgan killings, according to the Taoiseach, Mr Bruton.
Sinn Fein would not allow any split in the republican movement he said, and they were therefore "placing themselves in the position of giving routine support to, actions like this
"What politicians must do now is get on with doing business with those who don't use violence and that excludes Sinn Fein," Mr Bruton said in Amsterdam yesterday. "To my mind, it's about time now for democrats to say `OK that's enough, we are getting on with doing business. You can stay outside now'."
Mr Bruton said he did not believe Sinn Fein when they talked about peace. Speaking on RTE radio he said any movement that could not make up its mind whether it was for or against violence "is a movement with which democrats cannot fundamentally do business".
If they had been genuine in their commitment to peace, "Sinn Fein would have disconnected itself from the IRA and this sort of action. But they won't do that because they are an integral part of the same movement with the IRA. I have said that before the British general election. It was criticised but it was the truth.
"I think that it is quite clear that the republican movement has slammed the door themselves in everybody else's face." The murder of the two policemen in the North was a "very deliberate act" by the IRA.