IN AN implied criticism of the US attack on Iraq, the Taoiseach, Mr Bruton, said the action was "unilateral" and taken without discussion with others.
But the Irish EU Presidency, reflecting divisions in EU capitals about the US action, steered a careful middle ground, signalling neither approval nor condemnation of Washington.
In Brussels, the EU's Political Committee, chaired by Ireland, failed to agree a common position. The talks showed the sharp differences between hawkish support for the US from Britain and Germany and strong expressions of concern by France for the territorial sovereignty of Iraq.
The committee was meeting to prepare for next weekend's meeting of EU foreign ministers in Tralee.
The Department of Foreign Affairs in Dublin last night expressed its "understanding" of the US action.
The Department seems concerned to avoid compromising Ireland's role as EU President with statements that may make the task of creating an EU consensus at the UN more difficult. This is the challenge facing the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Spring, at this weekend's informal meeting.
Earlier, speaking after his meeting yesterday in Government Buildings with the Danish Prime Minister, Mr Poul Nyrup Rasmussen, Mr Bruton voiced concern about "potential risk to life of this intervention". He also declared the Government's concern for the breach of the UN exclusion zone by Iraqi forces.
Both actions threatened life, he said. As use of violence was not an appropriate way of resolving difficulties of the kind that currently exist, he hoped the UN Security Council would deal with this issue "in an expeditious way".
"I think it's fair to say that this was a unilateral United States action, that they didn't discuss with other parties in regard to the action. It was a unilateral United States decision. It is a decision, however, that they consider to be consistent with decisions that have "been taken by the United Nations Security Council," Mr Bruton said.
The Security Council would be able to determine for itself "in light of the facts and in the light of the legal position, whether or not the United States action was actually in compliance with the UN".
A spokesman for the Department of Foreign Affairs said the Government was concerned to stress the need for intensifying diplomatic and political efforts to end the internecine warfare between the Kurdish factions. Ireland, he said, was deeply concerned at the Iraqi incursion and reports of executions of Kurdish civilians.
A French foreign ministry spokesman, Mr Jacques Rummelhardt, said Iraq's military operations in Kurdistan were not violations of UN resolutions and reaffirmed that France supported Iraqi sovereignty. He expressed concern that there was no EU common position on the issue. Both Spain and Italy also expressed only "understanding" of the US actions.