The conditions of participation in the multi-party talks were first set out by the two Governments in the communiqué of 28 February. They were restated in paragraphs 8 and 9 of the ground rules published on 16 April, which in turn were referred to in the Northern Ireland (Entry to Negotiations) Act, which, for British purposes, forms the legal basis of the present negotiations. Paragraphs 8 and 9 of the Ground Rules read as follows:
"8. Negotiations will involve the participation, in the appropriate strands, of representatives of both Governments and all those political parties operating in Northern Ireland ... which achieve representation through an elective process and which, as set out in the Communiqué of 28 February 1996, establish a commitment to exclusively peaceful methods and which have shown that they abide by the democratic process.
"9. In the Communiqué of 28 February, both Governments expressed the hope that all political parties with an electoral mandate will be able to participate in all-party negotiations. However, both Governments are also agreed that the resumption of Ministerial dialogue with Sinn Féin, and their participation in negotiations, requires the unequivocal restoration of the ceasefire of August 1994."
Those remain the conditions for entry to negotiations. In addition, as was also set out in the February communiqué and the ground rules, it is required as a confidence-building measure that all participants make clear at the beginning of the discussions their total and absolute commitment to the principles of democracy and non-violence set out in the report of the international body. This was done at the start of negotiations in June by the two Governments and the nine parties currently participating in the talks. It will also be required of Sinn Féin if, as a result of an unequivocal restoration of the IRA ceasefire, it is to enter the negotiations.
The Government wishes to see Sinn Féin participate in the negotiations as it remains its view that fully inclusive negotiations offer the best prospect of achieving a fully durable and comprehensive agreement. However, it must be acknowledged that the atrocities perpetrated by the IRA since February and other evidence of its continuing activity have called into question the credibility of the republican movement as a whole.
It is in this context that the two Governments have emphasised that we will need to be satisfied a restoration of the ceasefire is unequivocal. There is an onus on both Sinn Féin and the IRA to ensure that neither their words nor their actions would be in contradiction of a commitment to exclusively peaceful methods and to abide by the democratic process. It is for the IRA, not for the two Governments, to take the decision unequivocally to restore its ceasefire and thus make possible the entry of Sinn Féin to the multi-party talks.
Clearly, the two Governments must continue to work to ensure that, as was also stipulated in the February communiqué and the ground rules, all parties have reassurance that a meaningful and inclusive process of negotiations is genuinely being offered to address the legitimate concerns of their traditions and the need for new political arrangements with which all can identify. I believe the current all-party negotiations proceeding in Belfast have the potential to provide such reassurance, in particular once the way is clear to launch substantive negotiations in the three strands. I am confident that, with the necessary political will on all sides, the negotiations can be made truly meaningful and can lead to a lasting political settlement. However, it is up to the IRA to determine whether it can also become truly inclusive.