Thursday November 30 1995

Bitter words preceded deal

UP UNTIL Tueaday evening reports on the latest moves in the peace process contained some of the bitterest words the Dublin government has ever uttered against the British. Irish officials talked of ``blatant lies'', ``cynical manipulation'' and ``disinformation'', as well as of the British trying to ``dump the blame for failure on John Bruton''. Events were building towards an almighty explosion of insults.

Then, at midnight on Tuesday, when Bruton and Major pulled their battered rabbit out of the hat, all was changed. Once more the talk was of a ``spirit of friendship'' amid thanks to all concerned.

Was the double-dealing just the cut and thrust of tough negotiations? Or did it reveal something central to the British attitude to the peace process as a whole?

Throughout this last 16 months the British response to the IRA cease-fire could be read as one long public relations exercise designed to cloak an unwillingness to seriously consider real peace talks. This week, one felt, the Dublin government was seeing the truth in that reading of the British position.

At the weekend when Seán O hUiginn and others from the Department of Foreign Affairs joined officials from the Department of the Taoiseach who were negotiating in London, the British put out the story that O hUiginn had reneged on a position that was close to agreement. Furious denials from Dublin government sources sprouted in the Irish media on Monday and Tuesday as accusations of British bad faith flew.

Albert Reynolds castigated the British for their ``divide and conquer'' tactics and called their behaviour over the weekend ``despicable, the lowest form of diplomatic activity.''

Similar examples of bad faith were revealed in a report in the Irish Times . The British ambassador to Washington, Sir John Kerr, told reporters that when Gerry Adams was given a visa, the White House believed they had a bargain ``that the IRA would begin to hand over weapons''. The White House denied this.

The report also quoted from a US magazine interview given by John Major in which he said: ``We have the full support of the United States and Irish governments on [the decommissioning] issue. The US administration has, in particular, underlined that political negotiations cannot start before there has been substantial progress on the decommissioning of paramilitary weapons.'' When the magazine reporter checked with the White House and the Irish embassy, Major's interview had to be rewritten.

In essence, the British have might, not right on their side. They are forced to twist and turn, tell lies and sow confusion in attempting to justify their position. Seen from outside the Unionist and British laager, there is no justification for setting preconditions to talks.

BY BRIAN CAMPBELL