THE new Conservative leader, Mr William Hague, reaffirmed his party's commitment to a bipartisan agreement on Northern Ireland yesterday as he welcomed the British Prime Minister, Mr Tony Blair's "ambitious" decision to kick start the peace process by setting a date for substantive talks.
In reply to Mr Blair's detailed statement on the peace process to the House of Commons, Mr Hague stressed that Sinn Fein must only be allowed into the talks following an unequivocal IRA ceasefire which was credible both in actions on the ground and in words.
Mr Hague also suggested there should be "regular reviews" of the talks process to ensure progress was being made and insisted there should "be no question of substantive negotiations with Sinn Fein proceeding without early parallel decommissioning of illegal terrorist weapons".
The leader of the SDLP, Mr John Hume, also endorsed the proposals and in a strongly worded statement, suggested that if the IRA does not restore its ceasefire then the talks should proceed without Sinn Fein.
"It is the will of the people of Ireland, North and South, that it [the violence] stops immediately. Let it now stop immediately and let all parties Get together to tackle the real task for the first time in our history, which is reaching agreement that will provide lasting stability.
"And, if that's to happen in a totally peaceful atmosphere all the better, but if it's not, let the rest of us get together and work quickly and strongly with both governments to reach that agreement. To put it to the people and provide lasting peace and stability."
Mr Blair immediately echoed this assessment. "Of course we want these talks to be inclusive. That is the best way for it to happen. But it is now clear what is to happen, absolutely plain. And if that is not going to happen then this process cannot be held up any longer."
However, Unionist MPs immediately expressed their fears that the British government had succumbed to the IRA's demands and predicted that the terrorists would continue to plot atrocities even if Sinn Fein was admitted into the talks.
The Ulster Unionist leader, Mr David Trimble, argued there were "serious deficiencies" in the proposals and asked Mr Blair whether he realised that most people would be wondering why "yet any other last chance is being given to terrorists who have failed again and again to renounce violence?"
Mr Trimble also suggested that the 17 month delay in implementing the Mitchell report's proposal for a verification commission to oversee the decommissioning of weapons as evidence that there are "elements" within the British and Irish governments that do not want any decommissioning.
The Democrat Unionist party leader, the Rev Ian Paisley, recalled the recent murders of the two RUC officers in Lurgan and argued that the British government had effectively allowed Sinn Fein to join the talks without "giving up one weapon or one ounce of Semtex".
Mr Blair stressed that any agreement reached during the talks would be put to a referendum of the people in Northern Ireland.
"There will be ample opportunity to say if the settlement is fair or it is unfair. There are only two ways of resolving this, violence or political and democratic debate, and what we want to do is resolve it by nonviolent democratic debate," he explained.
But Mr Robert McCartney, the United Kingdom Unionist MP, predicted the IRA will never agree to decommissioning and suggested the talks process was doomed to failure.
"They will go through the whole gamut of political discussions on the political track without handing over a single gun. Having come out the other end with their armoury intact and their active service units ready for action, we will be back to square one. They will look around the democratic process and if it doesn't deliver what they want they will resort to the methods that have been traditionally the only way of fulfilling their objectives," he said.