THE British and Irish Governments must be prepared to give "proactive leadership" to the multi party talks if they failed to make progress after the British election, the Taoiseach has said.
While he hoped the North parties would "grasp the opportunity for forward movement" when the talks resume on June 3rd, the two Governments must be prepared to give such leadership.
"In that context I have aired the idea of a timeframe for the talks as one way by which the necessary momentum might be injected into the process," Mr Bruton said.
Speaking in Dublin yesterday, Mr Bruton said the talks must move into "substantive three stranded negotiations". After the election, the parties "should be in a better position to act on the strong desire from within their own communities for agreement".
Sinn Fein continued to exclude itself from talks because of IRA violence, he said. "If that party genuinely wants to play its part in building a new future by agreement, it knows the requirements.
"The Government, however, are not waiting around for Sinn Fein. We have worked very hard in the talks to bring about the commencement of substantive negotiations. We remain committed to bringing that about and we will continue to do everything we can to achieve that aim."