The Taoiseach has said the existing procedure to deal with breaches of the Mitchell Principles would have to be adhered to in relation to the recent killings by the Ulster Freedom Fighters.
Responding to yesterday's statement by the UFF, which has links with the Ulster Democratic Party attending the Stormont talks, Mr Ahern said there was a mechanism for dealing with people who breached the Mitchell Principles and it had to be followed through.
While welcoming the UFF's statement saying that the killings had ended, he said the Government's priority was "to try to stop the shootings; to try to stop innocent people being shot. That is the priority."
The UFF statement also has been welcomed by the three main Opposition parties. The Fine Gael leader, Mr John Bruton, said that the UFF knew well that its actions breached the Mitchell Principles. The delay in vigorously asserting the Mitchell Principles and identifying the UFF responsibility may have cost needless lives.
It was tragic, he said, that six Catholics had died before the UFF was forced to accept the Mitchell Principles. He also urged that there should be a unit within the talks process specifically charged with invigilating the Mitchell Principles.
The Labour Party leader, Mr Ruairi Quinn, said the path to peace was a difficult one "and I am pleased that in this case the UFF has listened to counsel from its political representatives". The UFF, however, had attempted to justify its recent actions by referring to the "republican aggression of the INLA". He rejected any notion that the kind of sectarian campaign waged recently by the UFF and the LVF against completely innocent members of the Catholic community was justifiable on any terms.
The Democratic Left leader, Mr Proinsias De Rossa, said the admission by the UFF that it was responsible for a number of recent murders was a serious development which would have to be addressed when the inter-party talks resumed on Monday.