The possibility of periodic polls on the constitutional status of Northern Ireland had been discussed in the peace talks, the Taoiseach told the Dail. Mr Ahern added that it was "not a matter of great contention" among the parties.

The Taoiseach was asked at Question Time by the Fine Gael leader, Mr John Bruton, if he had any discussions with any of the participants in the talks in advance of the "public floating" by him of the concept of having a Border poll every five years. How did he see such a poll contributing to the necessary stability to ensure that the North-South and the internal arrangements worked harmoniously in the initial difficult years?

Mr Ahern said that the idea of a Border poll had been around in one form or another for many years. "As I said yesterday, I certainly believe that people should not get hung up on this. I was questioned about it. It has been discussed in the talks.

"I see this proposal as something that could happen in time. There would be no point in having votes if there was no likelihood of change. Certainly, I think there would be no likelihood of having votes until the system was bedded down and operational.

"In terms of the discussions, I can say in reply to Deputy Bruton it is not a matter of great contention between the parties. In terms of 25 and 26 items on the agenda in the last few days, it is not one that is creating any difference between the UUP and ourselves or any other party." Mr Bruton suggested that the reason it was not creating any difficulty was because it had not been publicly aired until Monday. He asked Mr Ahern what purpose he had in going public on the idea of the poll.

Mr Ahern said he had gone public because he had been asked a direct question by a member of the BBC crew. Mr Austin Currie (FG, Dublin West) said that the idea of a Border poll had been introduced in the 1973 Constitution Act with the aim of taking the constitutional issue out of Northern politics to the extent that it was possible and enable the power-sharing Executive to get on with the day-to-day work of reconciling the two sections of the community in Northern Ireland.

Mr Currie warned against the "rabbit theory of politics" in the North, which put forward the view that a solution would emerge because one side would eventually out-breed the other. "It is an extremely dangerous concept and a greater recipe for instability and continuing trouble could not be imagined," he added. Mr Ahern said that what had to be done was try to find an agreement that people could be happy with themselves, if not totally.

The leader of Democratic Left, Mr Proinsias De Rossa, suggested that the idea of demographics being the trigger for the holding of a poll would be obnoxious. It would be a nice word for a sectarian head count.

"The idea that a child being baptised a Catholic and a child baptised a Protestant defines their politics for the rest of their lives is a nonsense," he added.

Mr Ahern said the idea had never been put in that form. "The idea of sectarianism of that degree would be absurd. The concept is that there may be a mechanism needed to test in due course the state of opinion on constitutional issues," he added.

Mr Bruton described as a "sectarian concept" a reported proposal to allocate Seanad seats to nationalists in Northern Ireland, given that they were to be concerned about all the people of the island.

Mr Ahern said that the proposal - and that was all it was - did not refer to any particular group.

Mr Trevor Sargent (Green Party, Dublin North) asked if the Taoiseach was determined to avoid the growing perception that that the process was becoming more and more bilateral and intergovernmental.

Mr Ahern said that what the level of rancour whenever there was a full plenary session was extraordinary. Progress was made at bilaterals and trilaterals, and it was now necessary to work in small groups. The Taoiseach was wished well in the negotiations by all sides of the House.