Bruton bans councillors from pacts with SF until weapons issue is settled

The Fine Gael leader has warned his party's councillors not to enter into voting pacts with Sinn Fein until there is a resolution of the decommissioning impasse.

In a post-election letter to successful candidates, Mr Bruton restated the party's opposition to such alliances.

A Fine Gael spokesman said the instruction was not a departure from existing policy. Following the 1991 local elections, he said, no deals with Sinn Fein would have been entertained in the light of that party's association with continuing violence.

The Fine Gael stance is at odds with that of Fianna Fail. In the first of what could be a series of such pacts, Fianna Fail and Sinn Fein agreed a deal in Sligo Corporation yesterday in which Ms Rosaleen O'Grady (FF) becomes mayor with Mr Sean McManus (SF) as her deputy.

The deal succeeded despite the decision by one Fianna Fail councillor to abstain in favour of a Fine Gael candidate for mayor, and to vote against the Sinn Fein nomination for deputy.

It is understood Fianna Fail is considering alliances with Sinn Fein on other local authorities, including Leitrim and Monaghan county councils.

In the latter, where Fianna Fail and Fine Gael rotated the chairmanship on the outgoing council, a proposal has been floated for an arrangement between Fianna Fail (8 seats), Fine Gael (6) and Sinn Fein (6), which account for all members of the new body.

However, Fine Gael TD and Monaghan county councillor Mr Seymour Crawford said last night he would have "problems" with any such deal, as he believed Sinn Fein had not kept its word on the decommissioning aspect of the Belfast Agreement. "We will not be involved in negotiations with them. If they want to support us, that's another matter," he said.

Meanwhile, the county's Sinn Fein TD and councillor, Mr Caoimhghin O Caolain, said that, "having been excluded ourselves for so long", his party would not enter any arrangement which excluded "any identifiable grouping" on the local authorities in the county. Asked if this meant it would not agree a pact without Fine Gael, he said it did.