Mr Gerry Adams reacted angrily to newspaper reports yesterday that the IRA ceasefire would be reviewed after four months. The Sinn Fein president said it was news to him, and that he would not let any "jumped-up journalist" set the agenda.
Mr Adams said he would not get into "a word game" over the ceasefire. "All I know is that the IRA said it desired a permanent peace, and so do I.
"I think the IRA decision was momentous and I note that rather than seizing the opportunity it presents to move forward, we have this sort of game of Scrabble, when what is required is new language and new ideas and the motivation to bring about change."
He said some politicians seemed to be seizing "these silly stories to justify their own positions." The challenge within unionism, he said, "is that the doves have to take on the hawks and the same applies to the British establishment."
Those who wanted a political way forward would have "to take on those who treat this as a security problem," he continued. He denied Sinn Fein had softened its position and was merely aiming to renegotiate the Union with Britain.
"We are in there trying to bring an end to the Union, but we are realistic in terms of what is and is not possible at this time."
Mr Adams said nationalists wanted to be reasonable but that the current generation was no longer prepared to put up with what parents and grandparents had put up with.
Sinn Fein representatives would be going to Stormont today, he said, "to commence the job of putting our administration in place." They would meet other political parties and a meeting would also be arranged with the Taoiseach.
On decommissioning, Mr Adams said it had been made clear that the issue would not be allowed to block negotiations and that his party wanted a complete demilitarisation, which would also involve loyalist paramilitaries and British forces. He accepted that the issue would have to be addressed alongside "constitutional, political, equality and justice" issues.
At a press conference on Saturday afternoon in West Belfast, Mr Adams hailed the IRA decision as "a momentous one" and said he commended the IRA leadership "for having the courage to take that forward-looking decision".
He also commended the Sinn Fein leadership for its efforts over recent months, "for remaining proactively involved with all the main players in this to advance to the point where there could be real talks".
He continued: "We always had a mandate to be involved in these talks and I think that I want to reassert the right of those who vote for our party to have their views represented."
In particular he praised Mr Martin McGuinness who, he said, had played a leadership role which represented "the broad collective push of the men and women who lead our party".
Mr Adams said the ceasefire was "another chance" and he called on all of those "in a position of influence in church and State and trade union leadership and in communities and in other political parties, and particularly I want to call upon the unionist leaders, to look forward, to put ceasefires in our minds, to seize the moment."
Mr Adams said there was a particular responsibility on the British Prime Minister, Mr Tony Blair, whose government had "jurisdiction in our country." As Irish republicans, Sinn Fein wanted to see an end to that jurisdiction.
"We will press that in negotiations, and we will press that we will move forward as best we can in terms of our primary objective of ending the union and being part of the transformation of this island into a society which can reflect the diversity of all of our people."
Mr Blair, he said, had a responsibility "to be part of the partnership for peace which must be brought about, which must be consolidated, if we are to have a democratic peace settlement".
The Sinn Fein leader also called on people not to leave the peace process to politicians or to the British or Irish governments.
"Seize this for yourselves," he said. "Those people who were on the streets standing up on the issue of equality, on the issue of Orange marches, should seize and take ownership of this moment in our history and consolidate it and build it, and that's the sense which I think is out there among the people of this island and I hope in Britain as well."
In an interview with Sky Television yesterday the Sinn Fein chief negotiator, Mr Martin McGuinness, said he had not heard that the IRA had changed its position that it was not going "to decommission a single bullet."
Mr McGuinness applauded the leadership of the IRA, saying he believed they had shown considerable imagination. He also paid tribute to Mr Adams for never giving up "in our attempts to rebuild the peace process."
Recalling the peace conference held in South Africa in early June, he said: "We certainly did not remain unaffected by the lessons of South Africa. I think we all need to learn those lessons, I think we all need to call ceasefires in our minds, and I think the leadership of unionism needs to recognise and understand that we believe that the unionist people want negotiations."
He hoped all parties would be at the talks on September 15th and would "recognise the demand from within their own constituency to engage in real and meaningful negotiations."
The Cavan Monaghan TD, Mr Caoimhghin O Caolain, also addressed the press conference. He congratulated "the IRA leadership and volunteers on their historic decision."
"I think it is important at this juncture that we in Sinn Fein assert our right to be part of a talks process, part of a talks engagement based on our democratic mandate. This is an all-Ireland mandate that our party enjoys and I think that the demand and the yearning for a real and lasting peace is not a six-county demand but has an all-Ireland dimension," he said.
The Cavan-Monaghan TD said it should also be noted that Sinn Fein, and he personally, had engaged with people who represented a unionist view, "and we recognise that there are those within the unionist body politic who wish to play a substantive part in the search for a new arrangement that would accommodate our differences and will guarantee a democracy, peace and justice for all on this island."
He encouraged them to avail of and embrace the opportunity that was now on offer.
He said there was a need for the two governments to respond "speedily" to the new situation. "I believe the prisoners issue is of critical importance," he said, and he called for "an immediate announcement on the part of both governments of their decision to ensure the release of those who have found themselves in prison situations as a direct consequence of the conflict."