THE Taoiseach, Mr Bruton, has given a clear signal that the abandonment of violence and a commitment to the Mitchell principles would pave the way for Sinn Fein's entry to all-party talks.
In the clearest exposition of the criteria to be applied to test the bona fides of any new IRA ceasefire, Mr Bruton told the Dail that the passport for the entry into talks was the abandonment of violence. There could not be a two-track process where violence was used part of the time or retained as an option.
"The Mitchell principles clearly exclude any reversion to the option of violence at any time by a participant," he continued. "They are unambiguous and exacting in the demands they make on those who sign up. The Mitchell principles are not an empty formula. They are extremely demanding and require wholehearted commitment.
"Once that commitment is made, the talks process is open for participation. It is a fully inclusive process from which no subject is excluded."
Mr Bruton was responding to the Fianna Fail leader, Mr Ahern, who had asked if he agreed that the Mitchell principles were a sufficiently demanding test of adherence to exclusively political means.
Government sources, meanwhile, believe that the British government will outline the test to be applied to Sinn Fein entry to talks in the event of a ceasefire within a week.
The Sinn Fein chairman, Mr Mitchel McLaughlin, suggested that the Taoiseach's recent comments that what was required was: a change in republican thinking was deeply offensive to those who were working to create a credible and viable process against a background of British bad faith.
The Ulster Unionists are continuing to press for a British government statement on the terms for Sinn Fein's entry to the process. British ministers and officials are understood to be continuing work on a restatement of their position - defining their ceasefire requirements and the entry conditions which would apply in the event of a second IRA ceasefire.
The expectation is that the statement could be made at a plenary session of the Stormont talks next week, and might be accompanied by a British announcement of the Bill to effect a decommissioning process.
Last night senior UUP sources said the terms of the British statement would be crucial in determining whether, and how, the multi-party talks progress from the ongoing debate about decommissioning paramilitary weapons into the substantive Three Strand negotiations.
While expecting an element of "fudge" on the precise criteria London would apply in testing the reliability of a second cease-fire, the UUP leadership believes it will prove impossible for Mr Major to square the circle between its determination to proceed without Sinn Fein, and Mr John Hume's ongoing search for a formula to secure republican participation.
Unionists say the legislation establishing the talks process requires former paramilitaries to establish "a commitment to peaceful means and the democratic process" over and above the "unequivocal restoration" of the IRA ceasefire.
And they interpret this to mean a significant time lapse between the announcement of any cessation and a British government judgment that it had been matched by developments on the ground.
That runs directly counter to the proposal by the SDLP leader, backed by Dublin, that a ceasefire and "acceptance" of the Mitchell principles should be enough to gain Sinn Fein entry on the same basis as the other parties.