AFTER an unproductive meeting between a Sinn Fein delegation and British government officials at Stormont yesterday, it emerged that the British side had signalled strongly that further meetings, even at this level, could be ruled out if there are further IRA attacks.
An NIO statement said no arrangements had been made for a further meeting. "Officials made clear that the possibility of further meetings was in any case closely related to events on the ground," the statement said.
The Sinn Fein delegation leader, Mr Martin McGuinness, said he was "very disappointed" by the response received from the British representatives to his submission that substantive negotiations were needed.
"The British government was not prepared to give us a specific date when all party peace negotiations would begin," he said. He thought the situation was now - very grave indeed".
Even in advance of yesterday's meeting - the first British contacts with Sinn Fein since the ending of the IRA's ceasefire - it had been made clear that the British officials were not authorised to negotiate.
An NIO spokesman said on Sunday night: "There is no question of any negotiations at this meeting. Officials are authorised to listen to what Sinn Fein have to say and to tell them that there is no question of resumed Ministerial contact unless and until there is an unequivocal restoration of the ceasefire."
Mr McGuinness and two colleagues, Mr Gerry Kelly and Ms Siobhan O'Hanlon, spent almost two hours in Castle Buildings at Stormont with senior British officials. The meeting took place at Sinn Fein's request.
When they emerged, Mr McGuinness said he believed the British government and unionist demands for an electiye body were a major stumbling block, "and today we placed on record our implacable opposition to that".
He challenged the unionists to vote against the British government in last night's Commons division, and said: "That would bring about an immediate general election, and it's an election which Sinn Fein would be only too glad to contest".
Mr Kelly, asked about media reports which had depicted him as a "hard man" with strong influence in the IRA, said hem rejected the claims. He had spoken to his solicitor and would take his advice on the matter.
In reply to several questions about the weekend peace rallies, Mr McGuinness said republicans had demonstrated they also wanted peace. It was incumbent on all politicians not to attempt to further their own political ends by trying to use those who: marched for peace.
He believed that the vast majority had marched for peace, but also because their politicians had failed them. Those people also recognised the need for justice and the need for negotiations.
The NIO statement on yesterday's meeting also reflected an absence of progress. It said the officials had urged the Sinn Fein delegation to use their influence to bring the violence to an immediate and permanent end.
The officials had emphasised "that there was no question of the government determining policy in response to violence or actual or implied threat".