WHEN he emerged from Castle Buildings at Stormont last night the Tanaiste, Mr Spring, said that he and the Northern Ireland Secretary had agreed to leave "the serious matters of difference between the governments that have emerged over the last 10 days" for discussion at their meeting tomorrow in London.
The issues which have damaged Anglo Irish relations will be discussed in more depth at tomorrow's Inter Governmental Conference meeting in London at which the RUC Chief Constable, Sir Hugh Annesley, will be present to account for the policing decisions and tactics which aroused widespread nationalist fury.
After the first session of the multi party peace talks on the North since last week's upsurge of violence the three independent chairmen said last night that they and the participants were resolved to keep the process going.
In a joint statement. Senator George Mitchell, Gen John de Chastelain and Mr Harri Holkeri made a pointed reference to the recent turmoil. "We restate our strong and unequivocal condemnation of the use, or the threat, of violence to achieve political objectives", they said.
Senator Mitchell and his colleagues said that, in spite of the extreme difficulties, they were convinced that progress was possible. And they noted a "clear consensus" among the parties to continue the talks "with a sense of urgency and increased determination".
In Dublin today a Sinn Fein delegation, led by the party's president, Mr Gerry Adams, will hold talks with senior officials at Government Buildings, the first such meeting since the shooting of Det Garda Jerry McCabe in Adare, Co Limerick.
Mr Spring had met the Northern Secretary, Sir Patrick Mayhew, on the fringes of the multiparty talks for a preliminary exchange of views on the sharp differences between their two governments over the events at Drumcree and subsequently.
Irish officials described yesterday's discussions between Mr Spring and Sir Patrick as a constructive exchange and not acrimonious.
"Our primary aim today was to work with the chairman, Senator Mitchell, and his colleagues to see if we could get momentum back into the talks here in Stormont", Mr Spring added.
The Tanaiste also said. "Irrespective of how bad relations between the governments will be at any time, what is very important is that both governments can get back to working together, because we've always achieved more when the two governments are ad idem, working together with common policies to work with the parties in Northern Ireland."
Sir Patrick said there was a common determination that the peace talks process "shall be preserved and enhanced and carried forward".
As the North's streets remained relatively quiet, a bitter political row developed over the behaviour of the UUP leader, Mr David Trimble, in engaging in discussions with a prominent Portadown loyalist, Mr Billy Wright, at the height of the Drumcree crisis.
It was learned that both the SDLP and the Alliance Party had formally requested a ruling by Senator Mitchell on whether Mr Trimble and his colleagues had breached the spirit of the Mitchell principles, of which they are signatories.
The Alliance leader, Dr John Alderdice, accused the unionists of "driving a coach and horses through the Mitchell principles".
However, after a meeting with Senator Mitchell, Mr Trimble said he and his colleagues had pointed out that there was no evidence whatsoever for the claims made by Dr Alderdice. "There is no statement that either I or any other unionist made in the course of the last week that could be regarded as incitement or approval of violence", he said.
As the talks began yesterday morning a group of Sinn Fein members, led by the party's chief negotiator, Mr Martin McGuinness, staged an hour long protest in the grounds of Stormont over their continued exclusion from the process.
Meanwhile, 500 soldiers of the 1st Battalion of the Parachute
Regiment, who had been drafted into the North at short notice during the Drumcree standoff, were on their way back to their headquarters in Aldershot last night.