THE Ulster Unionist Party leader, has urged the British government to continue the multi party talks process and renew the security drive against the IRA after last Monday's bombing of the British army base in Lisburn.
Speaking on BBC Radio 5 yesterday, Mr David Trimble said the talks process was at a standstill because the British and Irish governments were not prepared to make progress unless Sinn Fein was "smuggled" to the table. Sinn Fein, however, had no prospect of entering talks unless there was a "clear, credible end to violence in a context that made it clear that what the IRA calls the war, is over".
Mr Trimble accused the IRA of adopting a policy of "carrot and stick" with the British government by planting the occasional bomb along with rumours of an imminent ceasefire, which it hoped would induce Mr John Major to make further concessions.
But the government "must not give way to this sort of blackmail".
Lisburn was described as a total negation by the IRA of any desire to commit itself to peaceful methods of negotiation, the Northern Ireland Political Minister, Mr Michael Ancram, said yesterday.
The renewed IRA campaign in Northern Ireland had "certainly slammed the door" on Sinn Fein entering the talks process but Mr Ancram said the government had made clear "the door is not locked." But to join that process, Sinn Fein would have to restore the ceasefire in a way which was "dependable and on which confidence can be built".