Ulster tense

Press, Volume CXV, Issue 33750, 24 January 1975, Page 13

Ulster tense

(.Y4: ,P..<.-Reuter—Copvrtght» BELFAST. January 23. Hopes for peace in a tense Northern Ireland are balanced on a knifeedge today. The possibility of a new I R.A. truce was raised after renewed contacts between the [British Government and Republican leaders, but this was dampened by a tough Government warning that further [talks depended on an end to [violence. The meeting between [Government officials and irepresentatives of the Sinn |Fein, the political arm of the Provisional wing of the J.R.A i was held yesterday at a [secret venue, only a few [hours after another cloud of [violence had descended on the province, leaving three men dead, and diminishing hones of peace. In a firm statement after [the meeting, the British Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (Mr Merlyn Rees) said: "There will be no more such discussions until the present wave of violence ends. When the violence does cease, my officers will Im? ready to talk again to members of the Sinn Fein about arrangements to ensure that the truce does not break down.”

It is feared that a spate of bombings and shootings so far this week indicate that the extremist militants within the I.R.A. leadership have overcome moderates calling for a cease-fire.

Yesterday talks brought hostile reaction from some Protestant loyalist groups. The Vanguard Union Association went as far as calling for the removal of Mr Rees as Secretary of State. It said: “The latest talks prove once again that a deal is going on behind the backs of the law-abiding people of the province.”