THE Taoiseach has denied a claim by an IRA spokesperson that, when taking office, he was informed that his predecessor, Mr Albert Reynolds, had a "clear and unambiguous understanding" with Sinn Fein that all party talks would "commence rapidly" after the ceasefire.
The claim was made during an interview in the Sinn Fein newspaper, An Phoblacht, with a spokesperson for the IRA. The spokesperson challenged the Taoiseach's statement last Tuesday that the IRA's resumption of violence was a "betrayal" of him.
There was "a clear and unambiguous understanding which the previous Taoiseach, Mr Reynolds, was clear about and which John Bruton was informed of when he assumed office. Let him not cry betrayal to us 15 months later the spokesperson said.
But winding up the Dail debate on Northern Ireland yesterday, the Taoiseach said he knew of no such understanding or "a deal of that kind with the previous government in relation to talks".
A Government spokesman said last night that Mr Reynolds had told the Taoiseach in a telephone call that "there were no secret understandings or deals that all party talks would commence rapidly after the cessation of violence.
But a Fianna Fail spokesman said later that Mr Reynolds had understood his phone conversation with Mr Bruton was private and that the remarks of the Government spokesman were "an oversimplification of the issues involved."
Mr Reynolds was briefing Mr Bruton on his talks on Wednesday with Mr Adams at the request of a Fine Gael Minister when the An Phoblacht article was raised by the Taoiseach.
The Government spokesman said Mr Bruton, when assuming office in December 1994, had been briefed separately on the peace process, then three months old, by Mr Reynolds and his adviser, Dr Martin Mansergh.
There was a reference to a British statement about a "three month decontamination period" before Sinn Fein would be allowed to have meetings with British government ministers.
It was possible Sinn Fein or the IRA believed this period referred to the delay before the start of all party talks, the spokesman said.