The chairman of the US House Committee on International Relations, Representative Benjamin A. Gilman, speaking on the Northern Ireland peace talks yesterday, said: "The time for posturing and playing to the hard-liners is over. The Irish people, both in the North and in the South, have had their voices heard and their political leaders are finally listening, so there is a need now for substantial movement and progress towards finding solutions."
Mr Gilman and Congressman Jim Walsh, chairman of the Friends of Ireland, were leading a delegation to meet the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, and the Cabinet in Dublin as well as the British Prime Minister, Mr Tony Blair, in London.
At a briefing organised by the Irish Peace Institute Centre at the University of Limerick yesterday, Mr Gilman said: "The issue of arms decommissioning no longer dominates and is no longer a condition to peace talks and debate."
He noted the absence of some unionist groups from the talks, but said the future of Ireland was now being debated across the table and not by the bomb and the gun, and this was how it should be. He also welcomed the fact that the UUP and some of the smaller loyalist parties had decided to participate.
Speaking on the reported split in the IRA and Sinn Fein, Mr Gilman said: "If this is serious, it could have some effect on the peace process, but I hope it is just a momentary dissatisfaction with all the delays."
Mr Gilman said he was pleased by Mr Blair's invitation to Mr Adams to meet him. He also said he was hoping for some movement on the question of prisoners.
"The arms decommissioning issue," he added, "was bogus on many fronts.
"You could never decommission all the fertiliser and fuel oil in rural Ireland, which is the key ingredient for many IRA bombs. Secondly, the idea of surrender of arms before a negotiated settlement goes against human as well as Irish history." Later, addressing the Political Discussion Society at NUI Galway, Mr Gilman said: "In the US, we have tried to lend a balanced helping hand in ensuring that the path to lasting peace and justice is followed. Our goal is to help the warm and friendly Irish people, on their own, to decide their own fate."
Mr Gilman said he opposed the extradition of political prisoners from the US and supported the right of Sinn Fein representatives to go there.
Mr Gilman is due to visit the Dail this morning.