NORTHERN Ireland's main unionist parties have responded to renewed speculation about an IRA ceasefire, significantly toughening their demands on decommission,ing of paramilitary weapons.
Proposals submitted to the Stormont inter party talks in the past few days by the Ulster Unionist Party, the DUP and Mr Robert McCartney's UK Unionist Party were being interpreted last night as an effective reinstatement of the so called "Washington 3" precondition for Sinn Fein's involvement in the process.
The original Washington 3 requirement, stipulated by Sir Patrick Mayhew, demanded decommissioning of some weapons before Sinn Fein's admission to talks. But the British government abandoned that requirement after the publication of the Mitchell Report.
Sources said the latest moves by the unionist parties effectively ruled out the possibility of "sufficient consensus" enabling the parties at Stormont to proceed into the substantive three stranded negotiations.
Of most concern to London and Dublin will be the UUP's decision to echo other unionist demands for significant movement on decommissioning before Sinn Fein can enter "substantive negotiations".
The Irish Times understands that the UUP proposals say that "to confirm a commitment to exclusively peaceful methods, Sinn Fein/IRA must begin actual decommissioning with a sizeable tranche of guns, explosives and bomb initiating materials, before it can be admitted to substantive negotiations."
Senior UUP sources last night denied this amounted to the reinstatement of the Washington 3 demand, drawing a distinction between Sinn Fein joining "the talks process" and actual "substantive" negotiations.
But such fine distinctions will cut no ice with Sinn Fein, the SDLP or the Government, or with a British government which accepts that once the decision is made to allow Sinn Fein into the process, the party would have to be treated on the same basis as any other.
The UUP submission, which was tabled before Sir Patrick Mayhew's response to Mr Martin McGuinness on Friday, underlines mounting unionist anxiety that Britain might respond to nationalist pressure to agree a fast track entry for Sinn Fein following any second ceasefire.
It also illustrates the difficulty for the British government in trying to respond positively to renewed peace overtures, while seeking to prevent a unionist walk out from the process.
That prospect is raised in Mr McCartney's submission. The preamble says his party is mindful that the parties are invited to the talks at the Northern Secretary's discretion, "but it is for the parties to decide the terms upon which they themselves will continue to take part.
"Minister Owen, for the Republic of Ireland delegation, was anxious to impress the pro Union parties about the reality of the terms upon which Sinn Fein would take part. But both governments must face the reality that, unless Sinn Fein/IRA conform to the accepted principles upon which dialogue can proceed among democrats, the participation of the pro Union parties may be forfeited."
The UUP and DUP call for a "complete, universal and permanent" end to violence. And all" three parties put themselves on a collision course with the two governments and the SDLP by insisting that a decommissioning process should be treated as wholly independent of the process of political negotiations.
This is item four of the UK Unionist Party's five decommissioning proposals: "An acceptance by the relevant party that the democratic process of negotiations can in no way be related to or made dependent upon any process of decommissioning and that decommissioning will progress to completion whether or not a political agreement acceptable to that party or it, ,5 related organisation is achieved.
The DUP says "failure on the part of any group holding illegal weaponry" to honour or undertake the decommissioning programme should "result in such a group being ,,excluded from the talks process.
And it suggests that such a "failure" be followed by "an all out, determined and robust drive" by Irish and British security forces to "remove from circulation all illegal weaponry".
It is understood the unionists are pressing for the appointment of an international verification commission ahead of legislation in Westminster and the Dail providing the machinery and necessary immunities for a decommissioning process.
And they are suggesting that any agreements made on decommissioning before negotiations start should be binding on all current and future participants.