The Sinn Féin president, Mr Gerry Adams, accurately reflected the position of the IRA when he addressed Mr Tony Blair's specific questions about its intentions, the paramilitary organisation has insisted.
The IRA last night said that Mr Adams had correctly elaborated on the IRA statement given to the two governments last month.
A senior source told The Irish Times last night that this was a significant advance and insisted this endorsement of Mr Adams's remarks was not available to the two governments at the time he made them.
The IRA last night released the statement it submitted to Mr Blair and to Mr Ahern on April 13th. In it the organisation claimed that the "full and irreversible implementation of the \ Agreement and other commitments will provide a context" in which it can set aside its arms.
It also released a second statement which was severely critical of both Dublin and London and accused the governments of mischievously leaking and misrepresenting "concepts and drafts" associated with its first statement.
It further accused the British Prime Minister of "a clear breach of protocol" by publicly misquoting aspects of its first statement on April 23rd.
This second statement contained the key sentences: "This and subsequent word games have caused justifiable anger and annoyance. Despite this, the president of Sinn Féin responded in a clear and unambiguous way. His answers accurately reflected our position."
The first statement, according to the IRA, set out clearly its view on the state of its cessation, its future intentions, its attitude to re-engagement with Gen de Chastelain's decommissioning body and also committed the IRA to a third act of putting arms beyond use.
It detailed preparations already made for further weapons decommissioning and said it was willing to consider seriously unionist concerns and to apologise for the deaths of what it calls "non-combatants" during the IRA campaign.
The British government said last night in a statement: "Unfortunately the IRA statement does not answer the question which the British and Irish governments put to the IRA and to Sinn Féin spokespersons: does this mean punishment beatings have ended; will exiling stop; will intelligence-gathering stop? On the basis of these two statements we simply do not know."
The IRA said last night that it believed the two governments and the Ulster Unionists had rejected its April 13th statement and associated initiatives. It added it was putting that statement on record "so that people can judge for themselves the significance of our proposed initiatives to advance the peace process".
It added: "Our statement and the commitments contained in it \ dependent on agreement involving the two governments, the UUP and Sinn Féin".
The April 13th statement, as released by the IRA's signatory, P.O'Neill, states: "We are resolved to see the complete and final closure of this conflict. The IRA leadership is determined to ensure that our activites, disciplines and strategies will be consistent with this."
The statement then insisted that complete and irreversible implementation of the agreement would pave the way to calling a "General Army Convention representing all volunteers" to decide on the issue of setting aside its arms.
It also asserted: "The IRA leadership poses no threat to the unionist people or the peace process".
Earlier, speaking after talks with the Taoiseach at Farmleigh, the British Prime Minister, Mr Blair, confirmed his government's intention to implement changes in policing and criminal justice as well as some reductions in the security presence in the North despite the hiatus in the political process.
After the meeting in Dublin yesterday, both Mr Blair and Mr Ahern sought to emphasise that reforms would be put in place and political talks would continue.
"We are not having the present impasse as a means for denying people the basic rights which they have", Mr Blair said. It was essential, he said, "that we put all the measures in place including the legislation on independent monitoring so that when the institutions are back up and running again we can move forward."