THE Taoiseach and the British prime minister may attend the all-party talks on Northern Ireland, Mr Bruton revealed.
Asked by the Fianna Fail leader, Mr Bertie Ahern, if he and Mr Major would be present for the opening days of the talks, Mr Bruton replied: "There is nothing decided on that yet. It is possible that we will. In fact, it could be likely that we will, but there is no formal decision taken on that matter at this point."
Earlier, Mr Bruton said that he had a constructive review with Mr Major on Monday night of developments in the lead-up to the talks.
"We discussed the key issues relating to the arrangements for the negotiations. I can assure the House that our intensive efforts are aimed at elaborating in detail on how we can deliver our joint commitment that the negotiations will be substantive, will be fully inclusive and will not become blocked on the decommissioning issue."
The Taoiseach said that logic now required the IRA to restore its cessation of violence. This was so in terms of Sinn Fein's acceptance of the Mitchell principles and the opportunity now available for all-inclusive negotiations on June 10th.
Stressing that a new cessation was required, Mr Bruton added: "That is essential and is agreed indeed in the relevant paragraph of the February 28th communique. Both governments agreed that the resumption of ministerial dialogue with Sinn Fein, and Sinn Fein's participation in negotiations, requires the restoration of the ceasefire of August `94."
In political terms, the Mitchell principles clearly required an IRA ceasefire, given that they committed those who agreed to them to principles which were not consistent with anything other than a ceasefire, Mr Bruton added.
The PD leader, Ms Mary Harney, said if Sinn Fein's commitment to the Mitchell principles was a prelude to a renewed IRA ceasefire, "then we are on the verge of an historic breakthrough in the peace process". However, a commitment to the principles was no substitute for an IRA ceasefire, and in its absence Sinn Fein could not be admitted to the all-party talks on June 10th.
Mr Ahern said he agreed that logic required an IRA ceasefire, but some matters needed to be clarified. One related to the Framework Document, but there was no mention of it by Mr John Major in his recent Irish Times article. Yet the Taoiseach, in his Finglas speech, had said the whole basis of discussion would be on the Framework Document.
Mr Bruton said the Framework Document was referred to where it really mattered, which was in the ground rules document for the talks. It was important to stress that it was only in the context of a fixed date for all-party talks that the Framework Document could move from being simply a theoretical construct, agreed between two governments, to becoming something else: a working document out of which could come an agreement between all of the parties.
Mr Ahern asked if it would be useful for the British government to make a clear statement on where it stood on the Framework Document, adding the fact that it had been left out of a number of statements and interviews was significant.
Suggesting that Mr Ahern was under a misapprehension the Taoiseach said he did not believe there was any doubt in that area. The British government had agreed in the ground rules paper that the Framework Document which was specifically referred to by name, represented the shared understanding of the two governments of the parameters of a possible outcome of the negotiations.
Mr Ahern said that former senator, Mr George Mitchell's involvement in the process should not be confined to Strand Four, or whatever name would eventually be put on the decommissioning issue, but he should also be the chairman of the Strand Two process, which was the North-South dimension.
Mr Bruton said the matter of personnel for the various roles, and the structure of their responsibilities, had yet to be settled between the two governments and announced jointly by them. Having said that, he believed that Mr Mitchell had an unrivalled capacity to make a valuable contribution.
Asked by Ms Harney if the two governments had agreed to the establishment of a fourth strand to deal with the decommissioning issue, the Taoiseach said they were working together on the best way of dealing with the matter in procedural terms. "We are agreed in our objective that this issue will not be allowed to block the talks."
