De Rossa condemns `cold-blooded atrocity'

THE Government was appalled by the cold blooded atrocity carried out by the IRA, the Minister for Social Welfare, Mr De Rossa, said last night.

Reacting to the IRA's admission of responsibility for the Lisburn bombs, he said it would be a mistake to close off avenues for anybody to participate in the Northern talks.

The question of the precise intentions of the republican movement had to be addressed, he suggested. "We can't lose hope. We have to ensure that these talks continue with or without Sinn Fein," he said.

Mr De Rossa, who was the only Government member to respond last night to the IRA statement, said on RTE's Prime Time that the Government was not insisting that the talks could not proceed without Sinn Fein. It had never said that. It was not saying that now and it would not be saying it in the future.

He reiterated the point made by the Taoiseach in the Dail yesterday that they could only move as fast as the parties in the negotiations themselves wanted to move. The two governments had presented an agreed paper on decommissioning, he added, and if the unionist parties were prepared to accept that document, then the talks could get on to the substantive issues.

The Fianna Fail leader, Mr Bertie Ahern, said last night that it was "with the greatest sense of foreboding" that he had heard the Provisional IRA acknowledgment of its responsibility for the Lisburn bombs.

"On behalf of the Fianna Fail party and everyone associated with it, I condemn in the most severe manner possible this deliberate and calculated vile deed. It is profoundly wrong," he said.

The IRA decision in autumn 1994 to declare an unconditional ceasefire was the correct one, Mr Ahern continued, and was based on reason and the potential of a new era of peace by agreement.

Repeating his call for an urgent summit meeting between the Taoiseach and the British Prime Minister, Mr Ahern said Sinn Fein's efforts to have the ceasefire restored should be fully supported by bringing forward significant confidence building measures.

The IRA's admission of responsibility for the bombs was described by the leader of the Progressive Democrats, Ms Mary Harney, as a sickening reminder that the republican movement was still determined to pursue its political goals through violence.

"The IRA must not be allowed to bomb their way to the talks table. They must be isolated and dealt with", she said.