Mowlam: First american visit

Mowlam says the US can help by sending a clear message to the IRA

Mowlam calls for ceasefire people can believe in

Her comments come immediately after her trip to Washington which she described as "useful and positive". She asked the US to help press for a renewed ceasefire by the IRA and after a meeting with National Security Adviser Samuel Berger, she said the new Government was determined to get momentum back into the peace process.

"Any assistance we can get to move Sinn Fein and the process would be very much appreciated" she said.

When asked what the US could do to increase the likelihood of a permanent ceasefire she said, "It's a very good question and I'm not sure, short of the usual support that the United States government has given us to encourage and say to the IRA that they know that the British Government is serious, that if the IRA announce and unequivocal restoration of the cease-fire...that message to across from ourselves to the Irish and the Americans would be very positive."

Northern Ireland is sure to be high on the agenda when President Clinton visits the UK next week. Ms Mowlam said that there was now a window of opportunity and all parties had to try to achieve peace together - including the United States. She said that it was up to Washington to decide whether to give Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams another visa - his last request was denied after the IRA resumed its bombing campaign last year - but it would not be "a terribly helpful step" unless there was another ceasefire.

She praised American investment in Northern Ireland as making a "tremendous difference" to peoples lives and urged the business community "to keep it coming".

Ms Mowlam's's direct down to earth style immediately found favour with the American press. The Northern Ireland Secretary pulled off her wig in the middle of press conference, announcing that she'd had a bad day. Ms Mowlam, who is recovering from a benign brain tumour, said, "I'm feeling in good nick and when I get my hair back, I'll be there."

As well as visiting the White House, Ms Mowlam also met Senator Edward Kennedy, who raised the idea that Ulster parades should be banned because they increased tensions. She said she had considered the proposal but had ultimately rejected it.

"The parades are about people expressing their culture and their traditions and their identities," she said, "In that sense, to try and ban them puts the problem in the cupboard, puts it away for three or four years. The problem hasn't gone away, you haven't dealt with the root causes of fear and distrust."

Asked about similarities in the policies of the old and new governments, Ms Mowlam said there was a basic difference of philosophy which had changed the climate for talks. She noted Labour's commitment to address what it calls the "democratic deficit" across Britain, in particular with regional assemblies in Scotland and Wales, and its decision to join the European Commission on Human Rights, reversing Conservative policy.

Multi-party talks resume in the first week of June chaired by former US Senator George Mitchell who has praised Miss Mowlam for "doing a lot to keep the peace process going".