Senior Sinn Fein members, vice-president Mr Pat Doherty, and Mr Martin Ferris, moved swiftly to correct what they termed inaccurate reports of their remarks in the US last week which were seen to cast doubt on future IRA decommissioning.
It is difficult, if not impossible, to obtain an accurate version of what both men have been saying as they separately toured US cities and spoke to republican sympathisers.
In Mr Doherty's case he also spoke to the editorial board of the Boston Herald.
On the basis of this meeting, Herald columnist Robert Connolly has written "there is a question as to whether the IRA really intends to follow through". "In Boston last week, Pat Doherty, who serves as vice-president of Sinn Fein . . . seemed to offer disconcerting clues when asked if he was confident that the IRA would disarm in the weeks and months ahead." According to Mr Connolly, who was not available yesterday for comment, Mr Doherty replied: "No, no, no."
Asked about the scenario that sees the new government collapsing if the IRA does not disarm by the end of January, Mr Doherty responded: "Do you think it is conceivable that if the institutions are working, and if the ceasefire is holding, and that the arms are not being used, that the whole thing would be collapsed? . . . That would be just lunacy."
Mr Doherty added: "I honestly cannot speak for the IRA." Mr Doherty also described the future appointment of an IRA representative to the Gen de Chastelain decommissioning body as "a huge step for the IRA". He added, according to Mr Connolly: "I am sure that it will cause shivers amongst IRA members. People will be nervous within the IRA - is this toe-in-the-water stuff?"
The Sinn Fein office in Washington later issued a statement from Mr Doherty in which he expressed his "dismay and deep concern" at the reporting of his remarks to the editorial board of the Boston Herald.
"Any suggestion that I deviated in any way from the Sinn Fein position spelt out this week in statements in Belfast is entirely wrong. I am 110 per cent behind the position articulated by our party president, Gerry Adams, on November 16th.
"All my remarks on this issue were clearly set in this context and in the context of the full implementation of the Good Friday agreement in all its aspects, including decommissioning. Sinn Fein is committed to fully discharging all our responsibilities and obligations in this regard as set out in the agreement. "This phase of the peace process is very obviously at a defining and difficult moment. Half-reported accounts of words or comments taken out of context or indeed ill-judged remarks by a speaker have the potential to cause enormous problems. Sinn Fein is not in the business of double-crossing or misleading anyone. Such a course of action would be disastrous. We are in the business of making peace." In the case of Mr Ferris, controversy arose over reports of a meeting at which he spoke in St Louis, Missouri, last Tuesday before the IRA statement on appointing a representative to the Gen de Chastelain body.
A summary of Mr Ferris's remarks to an audience of mainly republican sympathisers was posted on an Internet discussion site, which is not an official republican movement outlet, by Ms Jennifer Furey. The Daily Telegraph report based on her account of the meeting was headed "Conflict goes on, says IRA hardliner." The report said "Ferris noted that he does not believe the IRA will decommission, but since he cannot speak for the IRA he does not know for sure. He said he is merely going on two previous very clear statements from the IRA".
The newspaper report points out that Mr Ferris spoke before the IRA statement last Wednesday.
Ms Furey prefaced her account of Mr Ferris's remarks by saying: "I did not bring my tape recorder yesterday, so I only took notes. I will therefore rarely use quotation marks around Mr Ferris's words because since I'm a slow notetaker I rarely got all his words. It is a fair synopsis of what he said, though."
In Ms Furey's account, Mr Ferris in reply to a question on whether the unionists could "scuttle" the proposed executive if the IRA did not decommission, said there were no certainties.
She writes that Mr Ferris "also recognised that there was a strong possibility the unionism will try to bring down the executive if decom (sic) does not occur. He felt that this would be political suicide for Trimble as the rejectionists already don't trust him and those few unionists who support the peace process would then be against him as well."