THE IRA is believed to have suspended its campaign of killing alleged drug dealers because of the adverse impact it has had on Sinn Fein's political credibility.
The Government and senior SDLP politicians recently warned Sinn Fein that the continuing IRA killings were putting a severe strain on the peace process, and on the opportunity for the Mitchell commission to break the arms decommissioning deadlock.
Such a development would ease the pressure on the international body as it begins its final week of meetings before presenting its report on the weapons issue to the two governments.
The commission chairman, former US Senator Mr George Mitchell, still hopes to present the report on Thursday for possible publication on the following day. However, one Dublin source said that because of some "timescale slippage" the report's presentation may have to be put back by a day or two.
One informed source suggested that Mr Gerry Adams and Mr Martin McGuinness hadrecently taken "time out"from regular political activity to reassert their influence over the "hard men" in the republican movement who had been ordering the killings.
Sinn Fein said it could not comment on this claim.
In the past nine months the IRA was blamed for murdering seven alleged drug dealers, five of whom were killed over the Christmas period. The last killing occurred on New Year's night.
A report in yesterday's Belfast-based Sunday Life added weight to the speculation that the IRA has responded to sustained criticism from the British and Irish governments, and from leading nationalist politicians, by stopping its campaign.
There was a caveat, however, that the killings could resume. The paper reported a security source as stating that the IRA's army council had called a halt to the killings "for a period of time".
"That is what is being said, but that could change in a month," the source stated. "The spate of killings in December and January placed a lot of pressure on Sinn Fein at a critical time and that was conveyed to the IRA," he added.
The Taoiseach, Mr Bruton, when asked about the killings on Friday, suggested that the threat against the alleged dealers had been removed. He said he welcomed this development.
Following a meeting between the Government and Sinn Fein the previous week, Mr Pat Doherty, the party vice-president, indicated that Sinn Fein was trying to bring the killings to an end.
The SDLP leader, Mr John Hume, was quoted in yesterday's Sunday Times as expressing the belief that the killings had ended. "From what I hear it looks as if they have stopped", he said. This view was supported by a well-placed nationalist figure who wished to remain anonymous.
While the Mitchell commission was meeting the Alliance and fringe loyalist parties in Belfast yesterday, Sinn Fein was restating its total opposition to any form of elected assembly, ahead of all party talks.
Despite comments on Friday by the party chairman, Mr Mitchel McLaughlin, that Sinn Fein would seriously consider a proposition to elect a 45-member scaled-down assembly, Mr Martin McGuinness yesterday asserted that any form of assembly, outside of all-party talks, was a "non-runner".
The Mitchell commission is due to meet the Ulster Unionist Party in Belfast this morning, and Sinn Fein in the afternoon in Dublin.
Later this week, it also plans to hold at least one further meeting with the loyalist Ulster Democratic and Progressive Unionist Parties.
The SDLP is due to hold a trilateral meeting with the British and Irish governments at Stormont today.
