THE Government has moved to play down comments by the Tanaiste, Mr Spring, that a vote for Sinn Fein is a vote for peace" after Fianna Fail seized on a simmering contradiction" in the Rainbow's Northern Ireland strategy.
The Minister for Justice, Mrs Owen, said yesterday that voters in Cavan Monaghan should give preferences to any candidates other than Sinn Fein.
Amid claims by the DUP that Mr Spring's remarks were "outrageous and Opposition assertions that the Government was no longer speaking with one voice on the North, the three rainbow leaders insisted that there is no divergence in policy. The Taoiseach, Mr Bruton, denied the comments had created divisions within the Government.
Six weeks ago, Mr Bruton advised Northern voters that a vote for Sinn Fein was tantamount to a vote for the IRA. The Minister for Social Welfare, Mr De Rossa, said last night that at that time the British general election was in progress and the IRA activity was in full spate. The context had now changed.
However, Fianna Fail's spokesman on foreign affairs, Mr Ray Burke, pointed to what he claimed here "huge" contradictions between Labour's perception of the Northern situation and the view of Fine Gael and Democratic Left. "The mythical unity of this totally united Government is shattered on one of the most important political issues of the present time."
The Progressive Democrats said it was important the Government speak "with one voice" on the very sensitive issue of Northern Ireland. No "conflicting messages" should be sent.
Mr Spring made his comments after a brief meeting with the SDLP leader, Mr John Hume, in Derry yesterday. Asked how he interpreted Sinn Fein's success in last week's local elections in Northern Ireland, the Tanaiste replied that it had increased its vote and that SDLP support had "held very solid". "What I am reading into it is that people want peace on this island and I would hope that those who have to make decisions would accept that and then get into democratic talks."
Asked if he believed the vote for Sinn Fein was a vote for peace, Mr Spring said: "I would believe that it is a vote for peace. It's a vote for the direction that the majority of people on this island want to go in.
Shortly afterwards, while canvassing in Boyle, Co Roscommon, Mr Spring said there was no difference in his views to those of his coalition partners. He was making the point in Derry, he said, that Sinn Fein got a mandate and he wanted it to use this to achieve peace. Mr Bruton's comment that a vote for Sinn Fein was a vote for violence was in the context of an attack on an RUC woman in Derry.
Mr De Rossa said last night the context had changed since the Taoiseach and himself said a vote for Sinn Fein was a vote for the IRA. The results of the British general election had given Sinn Fein a mandate with two MPs. The party also had increased representation at local level, be added.
The comments yesterday by the Minister for Justice that voters should support any candidates other than Sinn Fein "squared very well" with Government policy. Any party was entitled to say voters should not vote for a particular party.
The party's candidate for Cavan/Monaghan, Councillor Caoimhghin O Caolain said Sinn Fein described the statement as "disgraceful". It was aimed at intimidating voters and amounted to a cynical exercise to divert attention away from the Government's failure to utilise the resources of the State to provide security for whole communities suffering the results of drugs, crime and poverty.
The Independent TCD Senator, Mr Shane Ross, who resigned from Fine Gael in April, called for Mr Spring's resignation. His "extraordinary statement" beggared belief, he said. "Sinn Fein supports the murder of human beings in Northern Ireland. The Tanaiste knew full well that Sinn Fein was "a mirror image" of the IRA.
"Is his obsession with the need for Sinn Fein transfers in the general election so strong that he has persuaded himself to play footsie with a cabal which encourages maiming, bombing and murder?" Senator Ross asked.
Asked in Killarney about Fianna Fail's claims of Government divisions Mr Bruton said: "The position is that the Tanaiste and I are agreed that there is an opportunity for peace, but it is a matter for decision by the republican movement whether they want to translate the mandate they have got into a mandate for peace or whether they want to persist with violence and with killing".