ANY restoration by the IRA of its cessation of August 1994 will be genuinely unequivocal, containing a clear and unambiguous commitment to enhance a genuine peace process, according to the Sinn Fein leader, Mr Gerry Adams.
In an article written by Mr Adams in today's Irish Times, he outlines key issues which he says must be dealt with if Sinn Fein is to make a credible argument to the IRA to restore its cessation of violence.
These include the removal of preconditions to, and in, negotiations, the establishment of a timeframe for the negotiations, the introduction of confidence-building measures on the part of the British government and Sinn Fein's entry into dialogue.
He says that given that preconditions to negotiations caused the collapse of the peace process last February, preconditions - and in particular the obstacle of decommissioning - need to be removed if the peace process is to be rebuilt.
Mr Adams says the two governments should also agree and propose a concentrated timeframe for negotiations.
Sinn Fein believes, he adds, that an unequivocal restoration of the IRA cessation would represent the most important confidence-building initiative on the IRA's part.
He says the British government needs to take action on prisoners, emergency legislation, policing and on social and economic issues. In addition, both governments also need urgently to address a demilitarisation agenda, dealing with issues such as political prisoners, emergency legislation and policing.
Sinn Fein, he says, has the democratic right to be involved in negotiations and to represent its electorate on the basis of its established electoral mandate.
"We reject any preconditions to our involvement in dialogue and negotiations. But we accept that inclusive democratic negotiations will best be conducted in a wholly peaceful environment.
"Sinn Fein believes, therefore, that any restoration by the IRA of its cessation of August 1994 will be genuinely unequivocal, containing a clear and unambiguous commitment to enhance a genuine peace process.