THE retention of the loyalist ceasefire was urged by the Minister for Social Welfare.

Mr De Rossa said every support should be given to those working to maintain it, as to any initiative within the republican movement to move away from the veto by the so called army council on democracy and progress.

"Political violence is morally wrong, it is futile, and simply adds to the cycle of grief, bitterness and hatred. The IRA knows this full well. They know that there is no way that bombs and bullets can unite people, except in fear and in death."

Mr De Rossa said the IRA wanted an end to the loyalist ceasefire and had set out in the most cynical way to achieve this.

"And yet the IRA seeks to portray itself as defending the Catholics of Northern Ireland. The reality is that the IRA defends no one. It is quite cynically seeking to use vulnerable nationalists as a means of laundering its image. Such deceit, and such recklessness, cannot go unchallenged."

Mr De Rossa said the IRA's mealy mouthed statement admitting responsibility for the Lisburn bombing was a case study in hypocrisy. "I wonder why it took it a day to issue its statement. Perhaps it puts the same care into syntax as it does into bomb making."

The republican movement, he added, must be given no reason to believe that it could bomb its way into negotiations. "The requirements which applied relating to participation in the Forum for Peace and Reconciliation also apply to Sinn Fein's inclusion in all party talks."

The Minister for Justice, Mrs Owen, assured the House of the continuing commitment of the Government and the security forces to counter terrorism. The response to its threat was under constant review and was being reviewed again in the light of the latest developments.

She said the total amount of illegally held weapons recovered by the Garda since the August 1994 ceasefire exceeded 600 firearms, 30,000 rounds of ammunition and 60 kg of Semtex, as well as quantities of homemade explosives and other improvised weaponry.