Ceasefire may not be enough to get SF into talks, Bruton hints

A PERMANENT IRA ceasefire and adherence to the Mitchell principles may not be sufficient to guarantee Sinn Fein's entry into the Northern talks, the Taoiseach, Mr Bruton, hinted yesterday.

He resisted Fianna Fail pressure, on at least three occasions in the Dail, to state unequivocally that a ceasefire, coupled with the acceptance of the Mitchell principles, would enable Sinn Fein to participate in the talks.

The Tanaiste, Mr Spring, was less equivocal on the same issue in the Seanad, however, when he stated that they should not treat entry to negotiations as a kind of certificate of approval to be bestowed only on the like minded. Political dialogue and negotiations should been seen as a duty on all political leaders with any contribution to make.

"Disqualification should therefore relate to the minimum that is required to protect the political basis and fairness of the negotiating process as a level and strictly democratic playing field for all participants", Mr Spring said. In the Downing Street Declaration and in the February communique the two governments set out that minimum threshold.

"We should certainly not lower it", the Tanaiste added, "and neither should we raise it to new and unrealistic heights".

Mr Bruton was pressed by the Fianna Fail leader, Mr Ahern, to state whether, if the Mitchell principles were followed, he believed Sinn Fein could take its place at the all party talks or whether he was talking about a time frame.

The Taoiseach responded, quoting paragraphs eight and nine of the ground rules, that the party had to establish a commitment to exclusively peaceful methods which showed it abided by the democratic process. Turning to the restoration of the ceasefire, he added that it was important that the parties also fully complied, in reality and in conviction, with the Mitchell principles, "not simply as some formula to be adopted for a tactical purpose".

Asked again by Mr Ahern to spell out whether the definition of "establish" and "show" meant a time scale, Mr Bruton said: "I will interpret that matter in the light of the circumstances as they are presented to me if there is a ceasefire".

He said many people were deceived by statements to the effect that the previous IRA ceasefire would hold in all circumstances. "It did not hold in all circumstances and, therefore, great care needs to be taken by those who wish to convince that they have established a commitment to exclusively peaceful methods."

Asked for the third time by Fianna Fail foreign affairs spokesman, Mr Ray Burke, what else had to be done before Sinn Fein could enter the talks, assuming there were a permanent ceasefire and a reassurance about not going back to violence, the Taoiseach said that the conditions that were being imposed were the Mitchell principles and a requirement to establish a commitment to exclusively political methods.

"It is for those who wish to prove that they do comply with the Mitchell principles, and that their commitment to peaceful methods is exclusive, to produce the most convincing evidence they can in support of their contention. It is not for us to devise formulae to which they can simply sign up with no commitment. They must demonstrate the commitment from their own resources and out of their own hearts," Mr Bruton stated.