THE republican movement has been thrown into unprecedented confusion by the Anglo Irish communique. There is no broad agreement on the proposals for proximity talks, elections and possible referendums, followed by all party negotiations.
The instinct of Sinn Fein leaders is to accept the package, no matter how unpalatable some parts are. They see a return to violence by the IRA as a backward step which would shatter the "pan nationalist" alliance and leave the republican movement politically isolated.
"We had 25 years of war and we didn't get what we wanted," says one source. Surely we should give the peace process more than 18 months? We owe it to our young people to explore every avenue before plunging them back into what we've just come out of."
But the instinct of ordinary IRA activists is to reject the communique and not reinstate the ceasefire. Many believe that the peace process has run its course and that it is time for a "war process".
A restless base meant that Sinn Fein leaders could have only one response to the proposals call for clarification. That allays suspicion of a sell out among hard liners and buys the upper echelons time to work on their grassroots.
Faith in the peace process, however, is at an all time low. "I was sceptical about this process but I was willing to give it a chance," says one source. "But the British have been the opposite of generous and imaginative. I can't see them changing now. The peace process is the road to nowhere."
It will be difficult for the leader ship to sell the package proposed by the governments. The British have abandoned "Washington Three" the demand that paramilitary weapons be handed in before all party negotiations. But the proposals now on offer are in some ways more demanding.
At the start of all party negotiations, Sinn Fein must accept the Mitchell principles, which include a commitment to abide by the outcome of all party talks.
Any agreed settlement will fall far short of traditional republican demands. The most Sinn Fein will secure is a power sharing executive in Northern Ireland with some cross Border bodies.
The leadership, however, will argue that accepting these principles means nothing. They are "only a form of words" and it is Sinn Fein not the IRA which will be making the commitment, it will be claimed.
But more difficult to overcome will be grassroots concern about the communique proposal that top of the agenda for all party talks should be the Mitchell report suggestion on decommissioning. This is that weapons be handed over during negotiations.
"I don't see the point of all party talks," says one dissident. "The British and the unionists will immediately demand decommissioning and Sinn Fein will either have to deliver which I don't think it can or walk away from the table."
Another dissident says that accepting the Anglo Irish package would fatally damage republicanism.
"The unionists will get their election and Sinn Fein will win about 13 per cent of the vote. Then there will be referenda on both sides of the Border that will overwhelmingly show that the Irish people are opposed to paramilitary violence.
"The conditions for a return to the IRA campaign would be the most hostile in decades. London and Dublin will have used the democratic process to portray republicans as an unrepresentative minority."
Sinn Fein members seem far more willing to continue to work at the peace process than their IRA counterparts. But one veteran republican is deeply depressed.
"We'll be hammered if we don't call a ceasefire and go to all party talks and we'll be hammered if we do," he says.
"If we're not there, we'll be marginalised and isolated. If we are there, we'll be sitting at the table, accepting someone else's agenda, and listening to the conditions of our defeat."