THE unionist parties are under pressure to move the Stormont talks into a new and substantive phase in the aftermath of almost five hours of crisis Anglo Irish talks in London last night.
Following a good deal of "straight talking" by the Irish delegation about the events of last week, the British and Irish governments resolved to "rebuild confidence" and reaffirmed "the primacy of the political process as a means of achieving this".
Sir Patrick Mayhew echoed Dublin's call for an end to the ongoing disputes about rules and procedures in the talks and for a start to substantive dialogue. In a blunt warning to the unionist parties, the Northern Ireland Secretary said that, unless the talks process was swiftly carried forward, confidence in its capacity to deliver would disappear.
The two governments were plainly obliged to agree to disagree about the events in Northern Ireland last week. And, despite their challenge to the Northern Ireland parties, last night's press conferences failed to dispel the impression of continuing antagonism between London and Dublin.
The Tanaiste, Mr Spring, conspicuously side stepped questions about the bona fides of the British government and about Sir Hugh Annesley's insistence that operational decisions taken by the RUC over the Drumcree parade had not been subject to political interference.
In a barbed comment, Mr Spring said that the RUC Chief Constable had been "very eloquent on the limitations of what the police can do in the absence of political leadership".
The Tanaiste said that be had bold the British government of the "concern, worry and anxiety" felt throughout Ireland and abroad about last week's events.
Asked if the British had accepted the Irish assessment of what had occurred last week, when the institutions and forces of law and order had been "thwarted by force of numbers", Mr Spring replied. "Certainly I would say they accept, our bona fides and our concern.
When asked by Tlie Irish Times if he accepted the British government's bona fides, Mr Spring replied. "We certainly work with the British government and have done so for many years. I think it is very obvious to all and sundry that unless the two governments work together in a determined fashion we are not going to bring about the type of substantive discussion and make the accommodation that is necessary. But we will work towards that end."
When asked if he accepted Sir Hugh Annesley's assurances that he alone made the decision to permit the Orange march to proceed down Garvaghy Road, Mr Spring said that "irrespective of how the decision was made, and who was involved in it", his concern now was with the consequences and that such a situation should never arise again.
Despite his initial resistance to Dublin's request for the emergency meeting of the Anglo Irish Inter-Governmental Conference, Sir Patrick last night said that it had been "timely and necessary".
Geraldine Kennedy, Political Correspondent, writes. The British and Irish governments will initiate a series of "contacts" with the Northern parties in the coming days in an attempt to get a "momentum of politics" to replace the current spiral of violence.
The Northern Secretary has agreed to prepare immediate plans for an independent review of parades and Dublin will have an input into that next week.
The Tanaiste returned to Dublin last night convinced that the Irish delegation had "got the beginnings of a realisation by the British government of the depth of feeling on the nationalist side in Northern Ireland resulting from the RUC decisions in Drumcree and the Ormeau Road last week".
Mr Spring informed Sir Patrick in the course of yesterday's meeting that he had never experienced "such anger and concern in the North" in his four years as Minister for Foreign Affairs.