DELEGATES at Sinn Fein's special conference in Athboy, Co Meath, at the weekend said there was a strong possibility a new IRA ceasefire would be declared within weeks. They said a positive response from the British government to proposals made by Mr Gerry Adams and Mr John Hume would lead to a "generous gesture" from the IRA.
The two leaders are expecting a reply to their package from Mr John Major this week. Their proposals outline the terms under which a new cessation would be declared. They include Sinn Fein's almost immediate entry into substantive talks and a fixed timeframe for negotiations.
About 300 people, including some senior IRA figures, attended the Sinn Fein conference on Saturday. Most delegates believed a positive British response would mean it was a matter of "when, not if" the ceasefire was reinstated.
"We want to get this process back on track," said a delegate. "We want peace as much as everybody else, but the British have to respect our rights. They can't trample on us forever." Few delegates were enthusiastic about the peace process, but there was a feeling this was the path the leadership had taken and it should be followed to the end.
"We owe it to ourselves, our children and all the people of this island to keep working at the peace process and not to give up despite all the setbacks" said a delegate. Another Sinn Fein member believed the IRA would be reluctant to return to a full scale campaign. It would damage Sinn Fein politically and lose the party many allies.
However, he thought if the British government completely rejected Sinn Fein's peace package and acted in an "arrogant manner", the IRA would be "forced" to respond militarily.
Sinn Fein is seeking British government commitment on the party's entry to talks without preconditions agreement that there should be no purely internal political solution in Northern Ireland; that all parties should be represented at talks, and that the British government must engage in confidence building measures such as the release of prisoners.
The conditions for the renewal of an IRA ceasefire are understood to have been put to the British government some weeks ago.
Mr Martin McGuinness said a British response to the conditions was needed "imminently".
"We have a serious, dangerous and unpredictable situation which needs to be managed very carefully. A clear public statement by the British government that we are going to move decisively to all party talks would give Sinn Fein a lot to work with. But, it must come imminently. There has to be a credible process of negotiations without silly preconditions in a fixed time frame and with confidence building measures."
The party leader, Mr Adams, said it was up to Mr Major to move things forward". "He knows precisely what he has to do," he said. "What is required is for Sinn Fein to be permitted to enter talks without any preconditions. The key is in the hands of Mr Major and he should move the situation forward. If he does that, all things are possible but it is up to him."
As well as the "conflict resolution" issue, delegates to the conference discussed electoral "strategy for next year's general elections in the Republic and in, Britain.