WITH just days to go to the publication of the report of the International Body on Decommissioning, the Tanaiste has again expressed his reservations about the proposal for an elected body in Northern Ireland.
His comments yesterday followed a statement earlier in the week from the Democratic Left leader, Mr Proinsias De Rossa, favouring an elected "conciliation conference" in the North.
DL's Northern Ireland chairman, Mr P.J. McClean, yesterday defended its proposal.
The Fianna Fail leader, Mr Bertie Ahern, maintained that Mr De Rossa had "flatly contradicted the Tanaiste, who firmly opposed (as do all the nationalist parties) the holding of elections for an assembly."
Mr Spring said those proposing the idea seemed to believe that negotiations would grow out of an election to such a body. But with very few exceptions in history, elected bodies had not been negotiating bodies.
"Elected bodies discuss, assess, evaluate - even ratify - the outcome of negotiations. They don't negotiate", Mr Spring said. The concept of elections and that of negotiations were entirely different.
Elections produced proportionate outcomes, excluded people and had in built automatic majorities, he said. Negotiations on the other hand produced agreed outcomes, included everyone who had a contribution to make and were about a search for consensus.
There were several ways of looking at an elected body, he went on. "At one extreme it might be seen as a potentially useful vehicle for getting negotiations started and leading on to a mutually acceptable lasting settlement.
"At the other it might be seen as a threatening way of stalling negotiations, of inserting a majoritarian impulse into any process that follows and of isolating and marginalising key groups, including those parties that represent the perspective that comes from a loyalist paramilitary background."
The only way to resolve the issue was through talking, listening, communicating and negotiating, he said. If the UUP leader, Mr David Trimble, was willing to talk or listen to the Irish Government, he might be surprised at the amount of common ground he would find.
Mr McClean of Democratic Left said that their proposal would be based on the Forum for Peace and Reconciliation. Referring to criticism from Fianna Fail and Sinn Fein, he said he could not see how parties involved in the Forum in the Republic could have problems with a proposal for a similar body for the North.