The decision of the Northern Ireland Police Authority to write to the Sinn Fein president, Mr Gerry Adams, inviting his party for consultations has been sharply criticised by the main Unionist parties, although Sinn Fein is unlikely to accept the invitation.
The police authority is an independent body charged by law with ensuring that Northern Ireland has an adequate and efficient police service. It appoints the Chief Constable and other senior officers, maintains financial control of Royal Ulster Constabulary expenditure and acts as a conduit between the community and the Chief Constable.
The DUP deputy leader, Mr Peter Robinson, accused the police authority of acting treacherously with its invitation to "the mouthpieces for unrepentant murderers of countless RUC officers". The secretary of the Ulster Unionist Party, Mr Jim Rodgers, said he was horrified by the invitation. It was a wrong move, he said, which would be condemned by all right-thinking people.
A member of the Sinn Fein ardchomhairle, Ms Dodie McGuinness, said there would be a reply to the invitation in due course, but she added that policing was one of the central issues which needed to be resolved in the multi-party negotiations.
"This is the business of the negotiations, not of the RUC authority. The RUC is not a police service and must be disbanded. We need a democratically accountable, unarmed policing service." She said a discussion with the authority at this stage would be very superficial. A police authority spokeswoman said: "It is part of our ongoing programme of consultation. We have invited Sinn Fein along with all the major political parties in Northern Ireland to meet with the authority to discuss policing issues." The views of the parties would be passed on to the Chief Constable, Mr Ronnie Flanagan.
Authority chairman Mr Pat Armstrong said the members "thought long and hard about this and, with some consideration and concern, they eventually decided that Sinn Fein's name should be added to the list of our organisations to whom we wish to talk".
However, Mr Robinson said this "act of folly" by the police authority was "a real kick in the teeth" to innumerable RUC families who had been victims of "IRA acts of barbarism".
The East Belfast MP said "this grossly indelicate action" would be comparable to the Government appointing the former Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Burke, to "an influential position as controller of passports and planning".
Mr Sammy Wilson of the DUP said the invitation was a disgrace and a slap in the face for the hundreds of policemen who lost their lives fighting the IRA.
"Do they forget that less than four months ago the IRA murdered two policemen in Lurgan? Will they ignore the sacrifices made by the RUC over the last 25 years?" Mr Wilson asked.
Meanwhile, the Northern Secretary, Dr Mo Mowlam, described Sinn Fein as "a constitutional party now, to be treated like any others". During a meet-the-people visit to Dungannon, Co Tyrone, she was asked if Mr Blair would soon meet Sinn Fein: "They are a constitutional party now, to be treated like any others and, when the prime minister visits Northern Ireland, if he meets political parties I don't see why he will not meet other political parties across the political spectrum."
Dr Mowlam said the decision by the Scottish Office to transfer Jason Campbell - convicted of murder after he cut the throat of a 16-year-old Glasgow Celtic fan on a city street - from Scotland to the Maze Prison was in line with established policy.
The justice spokesman of the Alliance Party, Mr Steve McBride, condemned the move: "The hardline intransigence of Michael Howard seems to have given way to an `anything goes' approach which is equally unhelpful in relation to these very sensitive matters," he said.
"But the greatest fault lies with those loyalist politicians who have apparently campaigned for his transfer. They have damaged their credibility and tarnished their own efforts to secure special treatment for those convicted of politically-motivated crimes by choosing to associate themselves with this person whose crime can only be regarded as naked sectarian thuggery of the most despicable sort."