THE Taoiseach has described his US visit as very successful. It had engaged the US Administration in injecting urgency into the Northern Ireland peace talks when they resume on June 3rd, he said.
Mr Bruton said Vice-President Al Gore's remarks at the Speaker's lunch on Capitol Hill yesterday were "very significant and exceptionally eloquent". They showed that when the talks resumed there would be "a spotlight on everyone" to see what they would do to make the necessary compromises.
The traditional Friends of Ireland lunch to mark St Patrick's Day was well attended by US politicians from both parties. This confirmed the bipartisanship on Northern Ireland which marks the US approach in recent years.
In his remarks, the Taoiseach said it was very helpful that President Clinton and Mr Gore had been "extremely strong in calling for an IRA ceasefire". Their "commitment is clear that if the ceasefire is credible, Sinn Fein should be in the talks".
Later, in a press briefing, Mr Bruton said differences between the British and Irish governments over setting a date for the entry of Sinn Fein into talks in the event of a ceasefire were "largely semantic".
Mr Gore, who was deputising at the lunch for the injured President, recognised that all the parties must move forward when the talks resume. He said it was time for an unconditional IRA ceasefire and for all parties to be represented in the talks.
He said the Taoiseach had shown a deep understanding of the peace process, not only from a political point of view but also from the psychological point of view, and the needs of the human heart. Mr Bruton understood the need for reconciliation and forgiveness and absolute respect across the divide in Northern Ireland, he said.
Mr Gore also won the Taoiseach's admiration for his use of the Freudian concept of the "narcissism of slight difference - to illustrate the ways small differences are exaggerated to make excuses for refusing to compromise. There was a similar analogy in nuclear physics, where a small space could lead to deadly power.
Continuing this theme, Mr Gore referred to the "small space that is Northern Ireland unleashing great destructive forces which burst forth with shocking intensity".
But he went on to say that the Irish people had shown a commitment to the highest spiritual values. The world and the Irish people were fortunate to have as strong a voice as that of the Taoiseach to lead people forward to peace and reconciliation in Northern Ireland, Mr Gore said.
The House Speaker, Mr Newt Gingrich, announced the re-establishment of the US-Ireland Interparliamentary Group, which would "provide for a regular exchange of working visits between the two bodies". He said this would "benefit the relationship between our institutions and enhance the already warm relationship between our two countries."
Preparation for an Irish delegation visit next year will begin shortly. Official ties between legislative bodies in the US and Ireland were established in the mid1980s but lapsed in recent years as contacts between the two bodies became more informal.
The lunch was also attended by the Secretary of State, Ms Madeleine Albright, and leading US politicians. The Northern Ireland Minister of State, Mr Michael Ancram, and the leaders of three of the political parties in Northern Ireland were also present: Mr David Trimble of the UUP, Mr John Hume of the SDLP, and Lord Alderdice of the Alliance Party.
Mr Bruton will be in Atlanta, Georgia, today for investment promotion functions.