THERE would not be a peace settlement in Northern Ireland without inclusive peace negotiations, Mr Martin McGuinness of Sinn Fein said yesterday. Asked if he shared the belief of the SDLP leader, Mr John Hume, that there could be an IRA ceasefire before Christmas, Mr McGuinness said the last week had seen a serious setback for the possibility of any new ceasefire.
"I am a realist and I have to deal with the reality of what has happened in the course of the last week, and that has been a very serious setback for the work which John Hume and Gerry Adams have been trying to do.
"Based on the document presented to the British House of Commons last week, there is absolutely nothing in it to convince me that the British government have yet recognised the need for a credible process of peace negotiations. But it is still our responsibility to put it up to the British government and to try to gain as much support as we possibly can in Ireland, Britain and in the international community", Mr McGuinness said.
"As it sits, the preconditions are still there and are still blocking the road to the negotiating table, and until that is removed I think there is very little prospect that we can move the situation forward. But we will continue with the search for a peace settlement."
Mr McGuinness told reporters in Derry that the British government should immediately restart talks with his party. "I think that most right thinking people believe that there should be contact between representatives of the British government and Sinn Fein. There is an impasse at the moment that needs to be resolved."
The Sinn Fein president, Mr Gerry Adams, in a summit yesterday, blamed British "dirty tricks" for the allegations of links between senior republican Mr Gerry Kelly and Ms Martha Pope of Senator George Mitchell's support team. Mr Adams said the allegations were a complete fabrication.
Arriving at Castle Buildings, Stormont, for the resumption of the multi party talks yesterday, Ms Pope repeated her denial of the allegation. "There is no truth whatever to the story. It is completely false and I have never met Mr Kelly, ever." She added that she was seeking advice from a solicitor.
A PUP spokesman, Mr David Ervine, said that "this nonsense" was an attempt to undermine confidence in the independent chairman of the talks. "It won't work."
The UUP security spokesman, Mr Ken Maginnis, also said it would be "a disaster" if something which had not been substantiated was to affect the talks.
After a brief plenary session under the chairmanship of Mr Mitchell yesterday, the parties to the talks reverted to bilateral meetings. They will convene at Stormont again today.