A surprising degree of common ground existed between the parities in Northern Ireland on how they should be governed in the future, the Tanaiste, Mr Spring, told an audience of foreign policy in New York last In an optimistic speech, Mr Spring said: "I firmly believe not bust that agreement on the future of Northern Ireland is achievable and that it will be achieved, but that the broad shape of that agreement is clearly visible."
Mr Spring was addressing the Council on Foreign Relations, a US foreign policy "think tank" He is in New York this Week attending the UN General Assembly as President of the EU Council of Ministers.
He said that he disagreed with those who drew "dismal omens" [from recent events and pointed to three sources of pessimism: the violent confrontations during this year's "marching season"; the fact that the Stormont political talks had not yet begun to debate the real issues which needed to be confronted; and the collapse of the IRA ceasefire.
Despite these realities, he said, he took his cue from the liberal French political scientist, Raymond Aron, who had "resisted equally the siren calls of fascism and communism" and in 1958 had written: "We have lost our taste for prophecies: let us not forget the duty of hope."
One source of such hope was that, in the hard bargaining which lay ahead, the parties to the talks would be starting from premises which were less dissimilar than they imagined. "Unionists and nationalists, both North and South, accept that both communities need to feel a sense of ownership of new institutions. There can be no return to Stormont, just as there can be no united Ireland over the heads of a majority in Northern Ireland.
"There is a widespread recognition of the practical benefits to be gained from North/South co operation, along with a fresh appreciation, certainly on the part of Ulster Unionists, that institutions dedicated to this end would also reflect the nationalist sense of identity. We all agree on the importance of the overall relationship between Britain and Ireland and the need to enhance it. There is widespread agreement on the importance of protecting human rights more effectively."
There was, therefore, a surprisingly large degree of common ground between the parties. "Beneath the turbulent surface of day to day politics there has been much movement in recent years."
Most people in both communities recognised the need for a transition from a Northern Ireland based on the domination of the majority community to one with a political framework which reconciled the rights of two different traditions. But there were deep fears and anxieties associated with this on both sides.
"A fatalistic belief that it must turn out the wrong way threatens to paralyse the political forces of unionism in a fearful scramble for the rightmost end of the political spectrum. A similar fear has prevented the republican movement from consolidating the logic of its political engagement. Instead, it has reverted to a campaign of violence which makes a mockery of its political programme and must ultimately destroy its political credibility."
In the face of such insecurities, the British and Irish governments had to give a lead in pointing the way to new structures and finding new ways to reflect and cater for change.
The IRA campaign of violence was the only obstacle which prevented Sinn Fein from making its own very significant input into the political process, he said. "It will be profoundly tragic if a continuing and ultimately futile campaign of violence now threatens all the efforts which have been made to achieve that goal."