Labour offers Sinn Fein meeting United Ireland 'is not in prospect' Blair bids to break Ulster deadlock
by Toby Harnden and George Jones
TONY BLAIR sought to break the deadlock in the search for a political settlement to the Troubles in Northern Ireland yesterday by announcing that Government officials were prepared to meet Sinn Fein representatives before a new IRA ceasefire. At the same time, he offered powerful reassurance to Unionists that a Labour Government would not be "persuaders" for a united Ireland .
Mr Blair underlined his personal commitment to achieving lasting peace by going to the province for his first official visit outside London as Prime Minister.
He said he was making "one further effort" to lay the ground for an IRA ceasefire which would enable Sinn Fein to enter multi-party talks.
After months of stalemate, which has resulted in growing sectarian tension, Mr Blair sought to capitalise on Labour 's new mandate by breaking with John Major's policy of freezing contacts with republicans while IRA violence continued.
He said Government officials would meet Sinn Fein to assess whether they genuinely wanted peace.
But such talks could proceed only "provided events on the ground here and elsewhere do not make that impossible" - a reminder to the IRA that it would have to continue its undeclared "suspension of operations".
Mr Blair delivered a blunt warning to Sinn Fein not to miss the opportunity provided by a new Government to enter the talks process.
"The settlement train is leaving. I want you on that train. But it is leaving anyway and I will not allow it to wait for you. You cannot hold the process to ransom any longer, so end the violence now."
But Mr Blair indicated that he was prepared to move more quickly than the previous government if there were an IRA ceasefire.
Although he did not specify a timescale for Sinn Fein's inclusion in talks after an IRA ceasefire, he said: "I will not be slow in my response."
Sinn Fein reacted coolly to the offer, which was also conveyed in a letter from Mo Mowlam, the Northern Ireland Secretary, to Gerry Adams, the party's president.
Martin McGuinness, the Sinn Fein chief negotiator, said: "Many nationalists will be disappointed by the pro-Unionist emphasis."
He repeated the republican demand for inclusive talks regardless of whether a ceasefire was called. "Our renewed democratic mandate demands that we should be involved in dialogue on the same basis as all other parties."
The Prime Minister's impassioned speech to businessmen at the Royal Ulster Agricultural Society's show was welcomed by the main Unionist and Nationalist parties. David Trimble, the Ulster Unionist leader, said what was different was the "very clear message to Sinn Fein" that a settlement could be achieved without them.
John Hume, the nationalist SDLP leader, said he was "very moved" by Mr Blair's words. "It is the most comprehensive speech made by any British Prime Minister in the last 25 years of our Troubles.
"He has really opened the door now to creating the circumstances where we can take the gun forever out of Irish politics. Sinn Fein should take him up on that offer immediately."
John Bruton, the Irish Prime Minister, echoed Mr Blair's warning. "We want everyone on the train. But, as the Prime Minister said and I agree, the train is leaving anyway."
President Clinton said: "I urge Sinn Fein to take up this offer. Now is the time to open a new chapter in the history of this tragic conflict."
Ian Paisley, Democratic Unionist leader, said Mr Blair's speech offered little to loyalists. "The concessions made were to the republicans. There was nothing in that speech we haven't heard before."
Mr Blair delivered his speech as Sean Brown, the Roman Catholic father of six murdered by loyalists this week, was buried in Bellaghy, Co Londonderry.
He said Northern Ireland was "not a party political game" but a matter of life and death. If he failed to bring about a settlement, more people would die prematurely and in bloodshed.
But he made clear that there would be no weakening of the previous government's commitment to the principle of consent. Emphasising that he valued the Union, Mr Blair said: "My agenda is not a united Ireland, so fears of betrayal are misplaced.
"Unionists have nothing to fear from a new Labour Government. A political settlement is not a slippery slope to a united Ireland."
He indicated that he did not expect to see a united Ireland in his lifetime. "None of us in this hall today, even the youngest, is likely to see Northern Ireland as anything but a part of the United Kingdom."
Government sources said Mr Blair worked on the speech before the election and consulted Mr Major about its content this week.
In a generous tribute to his predecessor, Mr Blair said: "After only a few days as Prime Minister, I begin to appreciate fully the scale of his effort and of his devotion to peace and a political settlement...if there is a new opportunity for progress now it is in large part thanks to John Major."
He stressed that any talks with Sinn Fein - which officials said could take place within days - would not be about negotiating a ceasefire.
"We simply want to explain our position and to assess whether the republican movement genuinely is ready to give up violence and commit itself to politics." He added: "I will be implacable in pursuit of terrorism."
Ronnie Flanagan, Chief Constable of the Royal Ulster Constabulary, later warned that the loyalist ceasefire was continuing to disintegrate and that the "implications are stark".
