THERE was no basis for claims that Garda resources had been diverted from tackling crime and drug trafficking, the Minister for Justice said.

Speaking during the debate on the Northern peace process, Ms Owen said suggestions that gardai had been moved to security duties from anti drugs activity and Operation Shannon, which is countering attacks on the elderly in rural areas, had been a source of public unease.

"I want to emphasise that certain other rumours and comments attributed to unnamed sources concerning the security response are also without foundation."

Ms Owen, who was speaking during the resumed debate on the peace process, said there had been a review of security after the London bombing and the steps which the Garda had considered necessary were in place. Continuing vigilance would be required and any further steps considered necessary would be implemented as circumstances required.

Garda authorities were also in contact with the London Metropolitan Police and the RUC and would provide assistance.

Mrs Owen said the Government believed the restoration of the IRA ceasefire was an urgent requirement to create the basis for fully inclusive all party negotiations.

"I would, therefore, appeal to the men of violence to desist from the course on which they have embarked and to reconsider the consequences of their actions for the people of Ireland a whole. Violence means turning their backs on their families and neighbours and on negotiations and the search for a fully inclusive political settlement."

Official channels remained open to enable Sinn Fein to convey information and ideas, she added. If confirmation were forthcoming from the IRA that the ceasefire had been restored, that in itself would immediately open the door to the resumption of full political dialogue with Sinn Fein.

Mr Dermot Ahern (FE, Louth) said Fianna Fail would see an elective process in the North as divisive and unnecessary. It would tend to harden attitudes and lead to polarisation, not only between the two traditions in the North but also at community level.

The nationalist consensus, which had been disparagingly called the pan nationalist front, had been an effort to decommission the mind set of Irish republicanism. It had started in the mid1980s and was the dynamic which brought about the IRA and, ultimately, the loyalist cease fires.

Mr Liam Kavanngh (FF, Wicklow) said he believed Mr Gerry Adams and Mr Martin McGuinness were telling the truth when they said they had no advance knowledge of the London bomb attack. There seemed to be a lack of communication between Sinn Fein and the IRA and therefore a question mark must hang over whether the party could represent the IRA's views.