The Irish Republican Socialist Party said last night it did not believe the Union with Britain would ever be on the agenda at Stormont despite comments made by the leadership of Sinn Fein that it was entering the talks to "smash the Union".
Speaking before a public meeting of the IRSP and other fringe republican groups in London a spokesman, Mr Terry O hEarcain, declared that if the Union was not up for discussion there was "nothing on the table" for the political parties to talk about.
Raising the question of the IRSP becoming involved in the talks process, Mr O hEarcain said that if the British government wanted to find out what its members thought about the peace process then it should approach the party directly and not "do it by back-door means".
Members of the organisation, which represents the political voice of the INLA, have accused the police in Britain of harassment. Mr O hEarcain said police had repeatedly questioned members on the street about their views on the IRA ceasefire.
He said that although support for the IRSP was "building" in Britain and in Northern Ireland, under the present rules the party could not sit at the talks table because it had not contested the election to the Forum.
Emerging from an internal feud at the time of the election the party was not in a position to put forward candidates. O hEarcain insisted.
However, even if the IRSP was in a position to enter the talks, Mr O hEarcain warned, the INLA had made it clear it would maintain its right to "defence and retaliation".