Efforts to salvage all party talks plan underway

THE Taoiseach has responded point by point to Mr John Major's letter on his proposal for elections to an assembly, as concerted efforts begin to salvage the prospect of all party talks at the end of February.

Anglo Irish officials will meet next Tuesday to assess the damaging implications of Mr Major's announcement for the decommissioning and political tracks of the peace process.

The Tanaiste, Mr Spring, will hold an unscheduled, full Anglo Irish intergovernmental conference meeting with the Northern Secretary, Sir Patrick Mayhew, in London next Thursday.

Mr Spring will travel to the US early next month where it is expected he may get the opportunity to brief President Clinton on the outcome of Senator Mitchells report. Preparations are still being put in train for a meeting between Mr Bruton and Mr Major in mid February.

Meanwhile, the Fianna Fail leader, Mr Bertie Ahern, will ask Mr Bruton a series of questions in the Dail on Tuesday about the British government's response to the international body's report, including the contents of the telephone conversation he had with Mr Major last Tuesday night.

The coalition leaders consulted yesterday on the strategy to be pursued to enable all party talks to take place.

New information came to light yesterday revealing the scale of the breach of faith surrounding Mr Major's speech to the House of Commons. At 1.20 p.m. on Wednesday, one hour before Mr Major's speech was faxed to the Taoiseach's office, his press secretary, Mr Meyer, stated that there would be no specific proposals for an elected body. "But the Prime Minister will say in general terms that the elected body could produce a way forward, it may work, it's a matter for the parties."

On his return from Strasbourg yesterday, Mr Bruton said the fact of the matter now was that we are committed to all party talks by the end of February. That is the firm commitment of Her Majesty's Government and the Irish Government. That is it."

He regretted the way in which all the discussion about the assembly had distracted public attention from the very helpful recommendations in the Mitchell report. "We have a report, unfortunately, which is being ignored because of this controversy that is raging about an assembly," he, said.

He suggested the elections for an assembly could be discussed in talks on the political track in the next four weeks "in a sensible constructive negotiating mode".

Mr Ahern said it was quite clear Mr Major's latest proposal was a blocking move to the peace process. It should be resisted firmly.

Elections at this juncture would be divisive, confusing, distracting and, in particular, could be a major delaying factor in proceeding with all party talks, he continued. Parties would end up with more or less the same representation anyway, but some of the loyalist fringe parties might not obtain any representation. That would present a new dilemma.

The former leader of the Progressive Democrats, Mr Des O'Malley, said that the British government's action had diverted attention from the real task which should have followed the Mitchell report. That was to discover whether Sinn Fein and those who represented loyalist paramilitaries accepted the democratic and decommissioning principles of the report. They were now allowed to treat those very real questions as academic, he added.

Mr Gary McMichael, the leader of the fringe Ulster Democratic Party, described proposals for elections in the North as "an illusion" and said he felt unionists were "being conned by the (British) government" on the matter.