Bruton pushes "Dayton type" plan to break impasse over talks

THE Taoiseach, Mr Bruton, embarked on a cross channel media offensive overnight to win British support for a two day Dayton type conference in Belfast before the end of the month.

He set out in a series of TV interviews to assuage British and unionist reservations about the proposal that the British and Irish governments should convene a multilateral "proximity" meeting to bring all parties together in Stormont Castle.

The conference was a way of enabling the two governments, to "fulfill "the ambitious objective we share of getting all party negotiations launched by the end of February. That is just 22 days away".

The arguments and the differences could be most efficiently dealt with by setting two days aside where everybody could come together in the same building," he said.

The Taoiseach acknowledged chat the British had talked about the idea being "premature". "My answer is that the British government agreed with us that they had a firm aim of all party talks by the end of the month. It is quite clear there are quite wide divergences about that issue - how the talks would be launched and so on - and given that there are differences and a limited time, our way is the most efficient of achieving the objective which they signed up to as we did".

Acknowledging unionist concerns, he said this format was being proposed precisely because they had a problem. They said that, even after 17 months of peace, they had a problem sitting in the same room as Sinn Fein.

"So we're saying let's have several rooms, not just one. You don't have to go into all of the rooms. Just go into the ones you want to go into and others can go, on your behalf to the ones you don't want to go into yourselves. "There may be a case to be made for an election," he conceded. "But an election can't happen, if the Mitchell report is to be followed, unless there is widespread agreement." The nationalist parties, or some of them, had to be persuaded by talking to them, he said.

It emerged last night that the Dayton type proposal was first put to Mr Major by Mr Bruton in the two critical days when the two governments were trying to co ordinate responses to the Mitchell decommissioning body's report.

The Tanaiste, Mr Spring, who had announced the proposal yesterday following his resumed meeting with the Northern Secretary, Sir Patrick Mayhew, in Dublin will put the proposal to President Clinton in the US today.

It was clear there had been no meeting of minds to break the elections/negotiations stalemate at the Anglo Irish Inter Governmental meeting.

Under the proposal, the two day meeting would operate on a basis broadly similar to the Dayton talks, which achieved a break through in the conflict in former Yugoslavia. No party would be obliged to share a table with and other party or government. No surrender of principle would be involved for any participating party.

The purpose would be to reach broad agreement on a basis and timetable for all party negotiations. The agenda would include the Mitchell report; the basis, participation, structure, format and agenda of all party negotiations and whether and how an elected body or electoral process could play a part in such negotiations.