Sinn Fein: on the brink of acceptability?

Sinn Fein Announcement Imminent

Northern Ireland Secretary Mo Mowlam has had a meeting with the Prime Minister at Downing Street to discuss the issue. She emerged after almost an hour but refused to comment about whether she would be inviting Sinn Fein to the peace talks.

If the Government is satisfied that the IRA ceasefire will hold, at least for the foreseeable future, Martin McGuinness will lead his party's negotiating team into multi-party talks in Belfast on September 15. Before that, Sinn Fein will be asked to sign up to the six Mitchell Principles on non-violence.

At the same time the Government is pressing ahead with plans to set up an international disarmament commission. The Northern Ireland Secretary has already said it will be up and running by the time of the scheduled start of substantive negotiations.

Division Among Unionists

Trimble: under pressure to talk to Sinn Fein

The Rev Ian Paisley's Democratic Unionist Party and the UK Unionists headed by Robert McCartney will not be present, and there is also pressure on loyalist representatives to stay away.

Mr Trimble repeated Unionist concerns at a meeting with the Prime Minister in Downing Street. "Our primary focus and concern is on matters such as the so-far inadequate arrangements that have been made to deal with decommissioning, which is an issue which has to be resolved within the talks process before there can be any question of moving to substantive issues," he said after the talks.

"The crucial question here is whether the talks, the outcome of the talks, are going to be determined by the views of the people of Northern Ireland or by violence or threat of violence," he added.

But Mr Trimble would not be drawn on whether his Party would take a seat at the negotiating table with Sinn Fein.

"We will see what the position is, as and when that comes," he said. "We have taken no position ourselves on these matters. The crucial issues for us are those in terms of establishing that the threat of violence and the use of weapons will not determine the course and the outcome of the talks and that consent will be the guiding principle in the process."

Downing Street described the 70-minute meeting as "constructive and positive". "We are still working towards finding the mechanisms for inclusive talks," said a spokesman. "They (the Unionists) argued strongly that confidence building was a two-way process and we will be taking into account their concerns."

Next week Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams and Mr McGuinness leave for a series of engagements in New York, Washington and San Francisco. They will have talks with senior members of the White House administration.

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