THE Taoiseach has signalled that there will be no change in the requirement for an IRA ceasefire to facilitate Sinn Fein's entry to all party talks on Monday week.
Meanwhile, Government sources maintained that Sinn Fein's performance in yesterday's Northern elections would have a helpful and positive effect.
It indicated that there were gains for the party on the constitutional road. The current absence of violence needed to be copper fastened by a ceasefire, they said.
It is understood that these points will be made to the Sinn Fein leadership at meetings with Government officials next week.
The formal Government statement, after the counts, merely said that the Government considered the Northern Ireland elections as part of the process of reaching all party talks on June 10th.
The results reflected the wishes of the electorate. The Government now looked forward to a successful opening of the all party talks, "with circumstances created for fully inclusive negotiations".
During the count yesterday, Mr Bruton said conditions looked comparatively favourable for a successful commencement of the all party talks on June 10th. Obviously, some decisions remained to be taken, one of which was the reinstatement of the IRA ceasefire,
"I believe that the conditions are there in which those decisions can be taken I believe that there are good grounds for optimism, but there is no assurance of success. Success is going to require simultaneous efforts to compromise by all the parties, commencing on June 10th," he said.
Responding to Mr Gerry Adams's assertion that Sinn Fein's enhanced mandate should enable it to participate in the talks, Mr Bruton said the qualifications for participation in the negotiations were laid down in the February 28th communique. "They have not changed and will not change," he added.
He believed it was very important that there should be an IRA ceasefire from the point of view of the success of the negotiations and from the point of view of Sinn Fein being able to make its case in a way that offered some prospect of it being listened to by others.
He could not see how anyone would expect the negotiations to be successful without a ceasefire, from the point of view of Sinn Fein. It just would not work. "Sinn Fein and the IRA know that," Mr Bruton added.
The Fianna Fail leader, Mr Bertie Ahern, said the high turnout was significant. It was a vote for continued peace and participation in negotiations.
The leader of the Progressive Democrats, Ms Mary Harney, has renewed her call for the IRA to restore its ceasefire before the beginning of all party negotiations on June 10th.
