"No magic formula", said Mr Harri Holkeri, one of the three members of the International Body, when its report was published yesterday; what is needed, as that document says, is a "decommissioning of mind sets". Presumably Mr Holkeri and his two colleagues, Senator George Mitchell, who headed the body, and General John de Chastelain, have had no illusions shattered by the initial responses, many of them equivocal and selective, from the politicians to whom their report is directed. Their brisk, no nonsense approach to the matter in hand, the balance and clarity of their analysis, and their role as non participants ink the party game have brought a refreshing new element into the debate.
Two preliminary points need to be made. The first is that if Mr Major has been lifted off one hook by the unqualified statement that his government's insistence on some decommissioning before all party talks begin is unviable, it is important that he should not get on to another - that of an elected body. He categorically denied in the House of Commons yesterday afternoon that he was motivated by the arithmetic of the survival of the Tory government, but he is clearly limited in his freedom of movement. The second preliminary point is that the SDLP and Sinn Fein must not get on to a hook of their own in opposing elections. The idea can be discussed on its merits, regardless of Mr Major's motives.
There are a number of reasons why the proposal should not be dismissed out of hand. For the future of the negotiating process, it is tactically wrong to react summarily to ideas emanating from the Ulster Unionist Party which is developing a more flexible and comprehensive approach to politics. But apart from this, it is questionable whether the suggested elected body can be rejected on the grounds that it would repeat the errors of the Convention and the ill fated Assemblies. That would be to overlook the profound change in Northern politics, and the balance of advantage, since the Anglo Irish Agreement in 1985. In addition, several years of dialogue have taken place in which the three strand approach has achieved general acceptance.
On the other hand, if the politicians want to make an elected body into an arena for confrontation, there is nothing to stop them. Like unconditional all party talks, which some parties may refuse to attend, the idea has snags derived from the persistence of lack of trust and an unwillingness, in the International Body's words, "to take risks for peace". The Taoiseach was careful yesterday when asked about his reaction to Mr Major's apparent enthusiasm for an election in the North; and in his comment that it is up to those who want one and those who don't to try to convince each other, with the governments acting as facilitators, there is at least an acknowledgment of what is now required.
When arms decommissioning was the issue) Sinn Fein could deny any influence over the IRA. Now there is a political choice, and Mr Adams, along with the other political leaders, can exert his authority. It is plainly not enough to insist that "setting a date" is all that is necessary to get under way. The objections to that on one side are as insuperable as the objections to immediate decommissioning are on the other, though there is certainly more room for compromise. There is a basis for this in the six principles of democracy and non violence set out in the report, and in the International Body's heavy emphasis on the positive side of the situation: the consensus in favour of peace and the complete removal of all paramilitary weapons.