THE SDLP leader, Mr John Hume, is not ruling out the possibility of an IRA ceasefire despite his warning yesterday that a vote for Sinn Fein was a vote for the armed struggle.
In rejecting an electoral pact with Sinn Fein, he said he was only pointing out the reality of the situation.
In an article in yesterday's Irish News he fiercely attacked Sinn Fein and threatened to sever contact with it if the IRA does not renew its ceasefire.
But as the two parties squared up for a major electoral battle, Mr Martin McGuinness, a senior Sinn Fein ardchomhairle member, accused him of electioneering.
The SDLP leader, arguing that a vote for Sinn Fein was a vote for "killing innocent human beings", stopped short of ending dialogue with the Sinn Fein president, Mr Gerry Adams.
He confirmed in an RTE interview that he had a phone conversation with Mr Adams yesterday on the matter, and that he expects to continue his contacts.
Mr Hume warned Sinn Fein that in the absence of an IRA ceasefire there could be no electoral pact. He added: "Without a ceasefire we are going to have to look elsewhere for a means of making progress."
Mr Hume was uncharacteristically vehement in his attack on Sinn Fein. He accused the party of stealing votes and intimidating SDLP members. He also accused Sinn Fein of trying to misrepresent the SDLP in an effort to win more votes.
Mr Hume said he understood voters who supported Sinn Fein to convey to the British government their desire for inclusive talks involving Sinn Fein, but further IRA violence betrayed that support.
However he added he was not "losing patience with Sinn Fein". His Irish News article was a rational and logical response to an article by Sinn Fein chairman, Mr Mitchel McLaughlin, in the same newspaper calling for an SDLP Sinn Fein electoral pact.
Mr McGuinness, in a number of interviews yesterday, said he was disappointed at the tone and content of Mr Hume's article. He dismissed his criticism.
"This has to do with the reality that there are quite a number of people within the SDLP leadership who are quite frightened now that Sinn Fein may do very well in the forthcoming election, and I think that that is reflected throughout the article," he said.
"I think that a lot of what we are hearing at the moment has to be seen in the context of an impending general election."
Asked if the Hume Adams relationship could recover from Mr Hume's attack on Sinn Fein he said: "Yes, absolutely. I am quite convinced that we can recreate the conditions which led to the ceasefire of 1994."
In spite of the article, Mr Hume and Mr Adams had shown themselves to be the "visionaries" of the peace process. They had established that the conflict could only be resolved through inclusive dialogue, something the next British government must accept.
"I don't think for one minute that Gerry Adams and John Hume are going to give up on their efforts to bring about a credible process of peace negotiations against a peaceful background," he added.,
"I am on the record as stating that all injustice on this island, all the conflict, and all death, is unacceptable to me and I do want an IRA ceasefire.
"I also want the British government to call a ceasefire to the conflict they have been involved in with the nationalist community since the foundation of the Northern state," he added.
THE parents of the British soldier killed last week at a checkpoint in Bessbrook, Co Armagh, have written an open letter to the Taoiseach, Mr Bruton, and the British Prime Minister, Mr Major, asking them to put their efforts into resurrecting the peace process.
John and Rita Restorick released their letter yesterday and said that it would also be sent to US President Mr Clinton and to Sinn Fein president Mr Gerry Adams.
In the letter they described their son, Stephen, as a "fine young man who was full of the joys of living". They called on all politicians not to let the political initiative slip away.
"Please help to make something good come out of this evil deed," the letter continued. "People had hoped that the death of the little boys in Warrington and President Clinton's support of the peace process would be the turning point, but the initiative is being allowed to slip away."
The Restorick family repeated their wish that their son's death should not be an incitement to more violence.