The first chink in the Government's solidarity around the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Burke, came last night when a Minister of State, Mr Eamon O Cuiv, said that it was "regrettable" that the Northern talks and the new planning tribunal would take place at the same time.
Mr O Cuiv, speaking on Telefis na Gaeilge, said that all sides were now around the table in the North for the first time. "Anything that disrupted that process would be most unfortunate and unforgiveable."
He believed, he said, that Mr Burke could deal with both matters. He hoped the tribunal would produce a report quickly which would resolve the issue once and for all and enable a fuller concentration on the Northern question.
Meanwhile, a bitter dispute has erupted over the terms of reference of the planning tribunal.
The original compromise terms, agreed with the opposition party whips on Wednesday night, proposed that the tribunal would inquire into "the identity of all recipients of payments made to political parties and members of either House of the Oireachtas or members or officials of a Dublin local authority by Mr Gogarty or Mr Bailey or a connected person or company, from 1985 to date, and the circumstances, considerations and motives relative to any such payment".
The Government yesterday proposed adding the words: "where such payment was made with intent to influence the planning process". The Opposition is withholding agreement until this amendment is withdrawn. Further consultations will be held on Monday to try to reach agreement before Tuesday's Dail debate.
The Fine Gael leader, Mr John Bruton, accused the Government of trying to eliminate any inquiry into "the extraordinary payment" to Mr Burke and of protecting "Fianna Fail interests generally".
The Government spokesman utterly rejected Mr Bruton's stance. The aim of the amendment, he said, was to ensure that all payments listed by the tribunal would be those designed to influence the planning process.
