SEVERAL key differences of posit ion and interpretation emerged in statements yesterday by spokesmen for the main Northern parties on the possibility of a multi strand "package" including so called proximity talks, simultaneous referendums and elections, and a date for all party, talks.
While the SDLP and Sinn Fein stressed the overriding importance of fixing a firm date for starting meaningful negotiations, the two unionist parties signalled they would set rigid boundaries on the form of such talks and strict conditions on who may participate.
The SDLP leader, Mr John Hume, in one interview, firmly ruled out his party's participation in any election process of the type envisaged by unionists and apparently by the British government. He said: "If the government are going to propose a 90 member assembly elected by the people of Northern Ireland to negotiate their future, the SDLP have already said no.
His party would continue to say no, because such a process would not lead forward in a positive, constructive way. It would make the problem far more difficult.
In any case, he added, unionists had already been saying that they would not talk, they would debate. "It's dialogue we need, not debate," said Mr Hume.
In another interview, however, the SDLP leader said everything was secondary to the need for a fixed date for talks, "and I believe the day that date is fixed we will restore the peace process".
Mr Hume also said he believed the IRA would have no alternative but to listen to the people of Ireland if they expressed a unanimous will for peace through referendums North and South.
Mr Martin McGuinness of Sinn Fein said his party would consider, if a package was produced, "whether or not any of this can move us on meaningfully to the essential negotiations which are required to deal with the issues at the heart of this conflict".
However, he said it was the party's stated opinion that an election at this time would he a retrograde step. "Sinn Fein is going to play no act or part in any further messing about," he said. "We want what the people want - we want peace negotiations now".
The DUP deputy leader, Mr Peter Robinson, did not rule out the inclusion of a referendum. "My party has never been a referendum," he said. "The key issue in relation to that is what are the questions to be." The questions would have to make sense and be precise to allow people to give a definite response.
The key issue concerning any proposed overall package was whether it would be such that his party could go along with it. But he thought it was important that politicians should make an effort to go along with a proposal.
However, Mr Robinson's comments indicated that his firm understanding was that negotiations should take place within the proposed elected body and not separately.
Referring to Mr Hume's demand for a fixed date for negotiations, he said: "As far as my party is concerned, the negotiating process can begin within an elective process the day after the results bare declared".
He added: "I argue that an elected process ensures that everybody is there with the degree of influence which is commensurate to the support they have in the community - and that is good."
The DUP would talk to all "legitimate political parties" within that process, but it would not be sitting down bilaterally with Sinn Fein and negotiating with it.
The UUP, for its part, indicated that it would set demanding requirements for those parties which can be permitted to enter any future inter party talks. And the clear implication was that the UUP would reserve to itself the final judgment on when those conditions were satisfactorily met.
A statement by the party's executive committee said the only parties which could enter such talks "are those which have demonstrated a commitment to exclusively peaceful methods and the democratic process as originally declared by the governments of the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland.'
If confidence was to be built it must be on the basis of a clear and unambiguous commitment to democracy and peace.
The UUP statement said: "The Mitchell report can be the starting point. But the Mitchell principles must, as the report stipulates, be honoured in practice and actually implemented in fact."