THE North's political development minister, Mr Michael Ancram, has repeated that there would he "no undue delay" in Sinn Fein entering multi party talks following from a credible IRA ceasefire.
Mr Ancram repeated that the British government was bound by statute to bring Sinn Fein to the talks after that government established that a new IRA ceasefire was genuine and unequivocal.
"There is a statutory obligation on the Secretary of State to invite Sinn Fein to talks once the criteria by which you can establish whether a ceasefire is genuine and unequivocal are met.
"And we have made it clear that there would be no undue delay. Once that assessment is made, then an invitation has to be issued. What you can't do is to judge in advance the nature and quality of any ceasefire that might be announced.
"Only when you see that can you start making a proper assessment," Mr Ancram told BBC Radio Ulster.
