EMBARRASSING and potentially dangerous divisions have emerged at the highest level in Fianna Fail over the conditions underpinning the Northern Ireland peace process.
The former Taoiseach, Mr Albert Reynolds, has broken ranks with the party leadership to suggest that Sinn Fein should he admitted to all party talks on June 10th in advance of an IRA ceasefire.
The Tanaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Spring, described Mr Reynolds's remarks as "very unhelpful". He said: "If Mr Reynolds was Taoiseach today he would not make comments like that."
The former Taoiseach's intervention is in line with a suggestion made by a party backbencher, Mr Ivor Callely, in the Dail last week.
The party leader, Mr Bertie Ahern, was clearly anxious to avoid entering a public controversy with his predecessor on the issue last night, and declined to made any public comment.
A spokesman for Fianna Fail said the party position remained unchanged from what it had been "last week, last month and last year.
It had not been affected by the results of the Northern Ireland elections. An IRA ceasefire would have to be in place before Sinn Fein could enter all party talks.
"We have said on at least 20 or 30 occasions that the IRA were wrong to break the ceasefire and that they should renew it immediately. There is no change in that approach," the spokesman declared.
Mr Reynolds, explaining hiss thinking on the issue, told The Irish Times: "I do not see an IRA ceasefire being in place before the start of talks on June 10th and in that context they [Sinn Fein] should be brought into preliminary talks without a ceasefire ... They can always be excluded at a later date if a ceasefire is not declared."
He did not think people who had received an electoral mandate should be locked out of talks.
When it was suggested that this approach was at variance with the demands he had made, as Taoiseach, for a complete and total ceasefire in advance of all party talks, Mr Reynolds replied that there had been an IRA ceasefire in Northern Ireland since 1994 and it had not been broken.
When it was put to him that the IRA statement calling off its ceasefire had not distinguished between Britain and Northern Ireland, Mr Reynolds said he was dealing with "the practical possibilities". He wanted to see the talks start and he wanted to see a ceasefire in place.
Because of the structures of the republican organisation it was not possible to get an instant decision on an IRA ceasefire, he said and he felt that if Sinn Fein was admitted to preliminary talks, it would create time for that.
"I don't think anyone should interpret what I am saying as giving a free run to the IRA. I am not saying that there should not be a ceasefire. They [Sinn Fein] can be excluded at any time if there is not a ceasefire. I think it would look silly if Sinn Fein was locked out of talks after they got a mandate from the electorate," Mr Reynolds said.
The very public intervention by the former Taoiseach runs counter to the approach adopted by the two governments and by President Clinton in seeking a resumption of an IRA ceasefire as a necessary condition for Sinn Fein's involvement.
The leader of the SDLP, Mr John Hume, declined to comment directly on Mr Reynolds's intervention. But he said there was no reason why there should not be an IRA ceasefire, as all party talks in a totally peaceful atmosphere had a better chance of succeeding.
Sinn Fein had sought an electoral mandate on the promise of peace. That should now be put into effect so that all party, inclusive talks could begin, he said.
Mr Reynolds's intervention is certain to provide comfort for Mr Gerry Adams in his demand that the Irish and British governments give dear recognition to Sinn Fein's electoral mandate, with automatic entry to all party talks. And it is certain to stir up old divisions within Fianna Fail.