THE Sinn Fein president, Mr Gerry Adams, yesterday welcomed remarks by the Labour shadow Northern Ireland spokeswoman, Dr Mo Mowlam, that his party could be in talks by June if a ceasefire was called.
Speaking to The Irish Times following yesterday's Easter Commemoration in Belfast's Milltown Cemetery, Mr Adams said: "It appears to me that Mo Mowlam's remarks are encouraging but I think the best way for these contentious issues to be resolved is for direct face to face contacts between our respective parties."
Mr Adams called on the Labour leadership in Britain to authorise meetings between Sinn Fein and its officials. However, unionists were angry at Dr Mowlam's remarks and have vowed to pull bout of the June 3rd talks if Sinn Fein is allowed entry.
Dr Mowlam, in an interview on Saturday with BBC Radio Ulster, said an immediate IRA ceasefire could open the door for Sinn Fein to enter the June talks.
"If they [the IRA] show by word and deed their commitment to the democratic process we think they [Sinn Fein] ought to swiftly move into talks," she said.
"We need a period where that can be seen. If they did it now - and their words and deeds were seen throughout April and May - it would be a high possibility," said Dr Mowlam, adding that, it would be very difficult for an incoming government not to consider such a scenario.
The Ulster Unionist deputy leader Mr John Taylor said while Dr Mowlam as Secretary of State would legally be able to bring Sinn Fein into talks, he warned: "They won't be multi party talks because the Ulster Unionists will not be there. If she wants proper representation at the talks, she can take that as a warning."
The DUP's deputy leader, Mr Peter Robinson, accused Dr Mowlam of joining the pan nationalist front. He said both he and his leader, Dr Ian Paisley, will be seeking a meeting with the British Labour party leader, Mr Tony Blair, to clarify the situation.
Mr Robinson said: "I don't believe anyone with Mo Mowlam's views should be Secretary of State for Northern Ireland. How can unionists accept any new IRA ceasefire is genuine after only two months when the last ceasefire, which was 17 months, was a sham?"
He also said if that was Ms Mowlam's formula for bringing Sinn Fein into talks, the DUP would not be there.
However, Mr Adams said: "As far as I am concerned Sinn Fein should be involved in talks anyway as of right. But we appreciate that these talks can best be developed in a peaceful environment. What I want to do therefore is to go to the IRA when I feel I can deliver. And I certainly couldn't deliver on the back of secondhand reports from Radio Ulster news broadcasts.
"Sinn Fein have no conditions or preconditions whatsoever. What has happened is that 18 months of subversion by the British after the IRA cessation has created a huge gap of distrust which has to be bridged," said Mr Adams.
"And what has to be clear is that if the IRA stopped on such and such a date, that Sinn Fein should be involved in talks and we would like to see that immediately".
"It is also clear that this decommissioning nonsense has been used to prevent negotiations from commencing and then to prevert, them from making any progress, said Mr Adams.
"We want to see total disarmament and that should be down as a major point on the agenda. And the agenda should be part of some sort of defined or definitive time frame as Taoiseach John Bruton has recognised. I think if we had all of that then we could be into confidence building measures.
"The British can be into it with the prisoners and other issues but the best thing the IRA can do in terms of confidence building, of course, would be to restore, the cessation of 94.
"I will go to the IRA when I think I can succeed. I have nothing today to go to the IRA with but Mo Mowlam's remarks are encouraging.
"What she said was encouraging. We now have to knuckle down and find a way through these difficulties. The best way, the right way, the common sense way is to do that face to face the way we are conducting this interview," said Mr Adams, adding that while encouraging, her remarks needed to be "developed through dialogue".
Responding to unionist anger at Dr Mowlam's remarks, Mr Adams said: "The unionists may be able to postpone the opportunities for peace but they can't cancel. There was a time when unionists wouldn't sit in council chambers with Sinn Fein representatives. Those days have passed. And what is the main reason why they sit in council chambers with us is because their supporters demand representation. And so with any peace talks, sure they may walk out, but they will have to walk back in again. And they know that."