Sinn Fein has insisted that the IRA ceasefire is "durable and good", despite reports that senior members have resigned from the organisation. Ms Bairbre de Brun, a member of the Sinn Fein talks team, said last night that she understood the IRA ceasefire to be firmly in place.
Ms de Brun, however, refused to comment on yesterday's Irish Independent report that some senior members had resigned or had been forced to resign from the IRA. "The key thing is that the IRA is on a cessation. It is a good cessation. It has given us all a chance for peace, and it is up to us all to make the most of that chance," she added.
Ms de Brun said that comments earlier this week by the Sinn Fein president, Mr Gerry Adams, warning of grassroots dissatisfaction at the slow pace of the talks was not a coded reference to any IRA rift.
He was warning about unionists refusing to engage properly in the talks, about the dangers posed by the break-up of the Combined Loyalist Military Command, and the absence of British "demilitarisation" on the streets, according to Ms de Brun. "The danger to the peace process is coming from those parties who don't wish to engage in that process, from those who don't wish to create the equality for peace, and the demilitarisation that is needed on the streets," she added.
"The core issue is that the IRA is on a cessation, that it is a good cessation, that it's the one organisation that is on a cessation, and that the key problem that we are facing is not coming from the source that this article is highlighting.
"It's coming from loyalists who are not on a proper ceasefire, from the British forces who are not on a proper ceasefire, and it's coming from those within the security establishment who are pushing a security rather than a political agenda," said Ms de Brun.
Mr David Ervine, chief spokesman for the Progressive Unionist Party, thought the IRA was preparing an exit route to justify a pull-out from the talks if the process did not succeed. "I think it is much too early to suggest they want to cut and run to violence. I indicate frankly that is not the case at this time, although there is some cause for concern," he added.
