The Fine Gael leader has called on the Irish and British governments to initiate talks between the pro-Belfast Agreement parties and Gen John de Chastelain to break the impasse on decommissioning.
Mr John Bruton said "all must be at the table, so that all will have ownership of the problem and all will have accountability for its solution".
Addressing the Young Fine Gael national conference in Dublin, Mr Bruton said it was only through such a communion of truth, around the same table, that Mr Seamus Mallon could, in the presence of Mr David Trimble, ask Sinn Fein his two hard questions: would the IRA decommission and when? In the same manner, he added, Mr Trimble could confront the Progressive Unionist Party with the hard questions about the decommissioning of UVF arms. "Indeed, it must be said that loyalist paramilitaries have been hiding behind the IRA in the decommissioning debate. They have been getting away with it. They should not do so."
At a question-and-answer session, the party's spokesman on Northern Ireland affairs, Mr Charles Flanagan, said there had been an unfortunate perception over recent weeks of the two governments being seen to diverge. "There is evidence to suggest that journalists are being briefed to that affect. Let us be honest and admit that the Irish Government appears to have been the main culprit in this regard. An Irish Government should be aware of the very real danger of becoming a spin doctor on behalf of Sinn Fein and the IRA."
Delegates overwhelmingly rejected a proposal by Mr David Jenkins, of Young Fine Gael's international committee, that Ireland rejoins the Commonwealth. Mr Jenkins argued that membership would foster a community spirit and pride within the Irish Diaspora of the Commonwealth.
One of the delegates opposed to the proposal said: "Do we want to belong to an organisation that is headed by a family of congenital idiots? I do not, anyway."
