MR JOHN MAJOR this morning seeks to reassure Sinn Fein that next month's party negotiations will not be blocked by disputes about the decommissioning of paramilitary weapons.
In a potentially important signal to the republican movement, the Prime Minister says decommissioning will need to be addressed at the beginning of the talks and agreement reached on how the Mitchell report's recommendations "can be taken forward, without blocking the negotiations."
In an article for The Irish Times, the British Prime Minister affirms he wants Sinn Fein to be part of the negotiations due to start on June 10th. And he says the route to them, after the North's elections on May 30th, is "clear, direct and automatic."
Mr Major's article marks the culmination of a concerted Anglo Irish/US campaign for the restoration of the IRA ceasefire. The Northern Ireland Minister, Mr Michael Ancram, flies to Washington this morning for talks with administration officials amid continuing speculation that Senator George Mitchell will be invited to play a key role in the talks process. Echoing the Taoiseach's Finglas call for the renewal of the IRA ceasefire, Mr Major pledges that the negotiations "will be a genuine and serious effort to reach a comprehensive settlement, covering all the issues of concern and acceptable to all concerned."
But a key passage, outlining the parameters of a likely settlement, could appear on one reading to elevate the "internal" Northern dimension and is likely to receive a critical response from Sinn Fein.
Mr Major writes: "The purpose of the negotiations is arrangements for the future government of Northern Ireland, within a framework of stable relationships within the island of Ireland and between the peoples of these lands, which can command the widest possible acceptability, accommodate diversity and provide for the necessary mutual reconciliation."
With the agenda for the negotiations, along with the decommissioning issue, central to ongoing Anglo Irish discussions, the Government would have hoped for a clearer signal of London's continuing commitment to the proposals contained in the Joint Framework documents published last year.
Addressing the prospects for the negotiations, Mr Major pledges that "the British government will work unremittingly to make a success of them." He repeats that "the agenda is open" and "all parties will be treated equally," that "no one can be forced to agree against their will," and that the balks have no predetermined outcome.
Mr Major says "readiness to compromise will be essential on the part of all concerned." And without making any reference to Sinn Fein demands for a designated timeframe for the talks, he declares: "No one wants to drag out the process."
But the Prime Minister says there is "a huge shadow" over the prospect of a settlement, "the shadow of paramilitary violence."
The British and Irish governments had made it clear they want all parties at the negotiations, "but they have made it just as clear that, without an unequivocal restoration of the IRA ceasefire, Sinn Fein cannot take their place in the negotiations."
Mr Major acknowledges that nationalists require confidence, "that a meaningful and inclusive process of negotiation is on offer." But he says "confidence is also needed that the paramilitaries will not seek to use or threaten force if they cannot get their way at the negotiating table."
The Prime Minister continues: "The unionists in particular need to have this confidence. That is why the decommissioning of paramilitary weapons, as called for by the Mitchell report, remains so important."
In a careful balancing act, Mr Major thus keeps alive the issue of "parallel decommissioning". But while anxiously awaiting Sinn Fein's response, the Government seems certain to welcome a further adjustment of the British position and the assurance that the decommissioning dispute will not prevent the development of the political agenda.