THE Tanaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs said the Government accepted the Mitchell report without reservation. The following is an edited version of his speech to the Dail.
Mr Spring said "Before I address the content of the report, I would like on behalf of the Government and I am sure on behalf of the House also, to express our warm appreciation to the international body.
"The three members of the body and their staff have displayed enormous commitment, skill and energy in the discharge of their difficult mandate. The Irish and British governments and the peoples of these islands have every reason to be profoundly grateful to them for the service they have rendered to the cause of peace
"The essential goal we seek through the twin track process is to bring the parties around the table. The cease fires are an unprecedented opportunity to resolve a tragic conflict on an exclusively peaceful and democratic basis. The democratic process, and the future welfare of our people, will be poorly served if we allow this opportunity to be lost.
"The report puts the choice before us very simply This is a critical time in the history of Northern Ireland. The peace process will move forward or this society could slip back to the horror of the past quarter century.
"For some time there has been a dangerous impasse between two deeply held and opposing views was decommissioning the prior condition for political progress or, on the contrary, was political progress the prior key to decommissioning? The two governments launched a twin track approach aimed at replacing that essentially sterile and circular debate by a search for complementary progress on both fronts.
"The time frame allocated to the body was extremely short, reflecting the urgency of the governments firm aim of launching all party talks by the end of February. In spite of this pressure, the body consulted very widely, and I believe their report shows that they used that process to establish a very impressive grasp of the situation and of the difficulties involved
"This report represents the unanimous and impartial view of three very distinguished individuals from very distinct backgrounds. It offers all of us a clear and very practical road map to the negotiating table. It sets out the guidelines necessary to ensure that the negotiating process is fully democratic and untainted by any threat or use of force. We accept it without reservation.
"They point to the strength of the deep consensus behind the peace. The very widespread acceptance of the need for total decommissioning, including by former paramilitaries, offers a potentially valuable starting point for the search for an acceptable solution to this problem.
"They also remind us of the need to give due weight to the sustained observance of the cease fires (notwithstanding the reprehensible killings and beatings which they also strongly condemn).
I was particularly impressed at this morning's press conference by Senator Mitchell's passionate appeal to avoid a point scoring approach to his report. This was, he reminded us, a matter literally of life and death. I hope his appeal will be heeded by all and that the report will be given the careful and positive consideration it so clearly deserves.
The six principles set out are a stringent and challenging test of commitment to democratic and peaceful methods, including during and after negotiations. I believe accepting and honouring them would be a very persuasive test of the commitment required under Article to of the Downing Street Declaration.
However, the body also recognises there are genuine practical problems arising from the existence of unauthorised weapons which must be resolved as an essential part of a process of total and verifiable decommissioning.
"The report of the body replaces the polemics which had sprung up around the so called Washington 3 debate with an alternative, more logical and ultimately more promising approach. To solve both aspects of the problem in the way they suggest is ultimately to solve the problem as a whole.
"This is the crucial point for both governments, not whether it must be achieved in one step rather than two or according to one particular prescription rather than another. The next step is for the two governments working on the basis of the report and addressing the various other issues in the political track, to intensify further the round of preparatory talks so as to achieve the launch of inclusive negotiations.
"The process of negotiation now on offer contains guarantees for the unionist community at every level. The principles set out by the body guarantee that any attempt to use force or to threaten force will be incompatible with the basis of talks and will be rejected.
"The unionists, by participating in talks, will be able to monitor compliance with that directly. Secondly, they have the guarantee that the outcome will be subject to what Prime Minister Major called the "triple lock", including the most stringent possible test of democratic validation, through the process of referendum.
"Negotiations in relation to Northern Ireland are not a luxury, and not a favour for any one side to grant or withhold. They are quite simply a necessity if we are to have a better future for all.
"Both nationalists and unionists have the duty firstly to listen to each others' proposals carefully and constructively across the table, and, secondly, to seek a just and honourable accommodation of their differing viewpoints."