THE Tanaiste, Mr Spring, has described as "unhelpful" IRA comments that it is prepared for another 25 years of war, in the absence of an inclusive negotiated peace settlement.

The Government, however, was working on the basis that the Sinn Fein leadership was genuine in its approach to peace, he indicated at Castle Buildings, Stormont, yesterday where he was involved in a further round of proximity talks.

Both the SDLP leader, Mr John Hume, and Sinn Fein president, Mr Gerry Adams, who met the IRA last week, said the peace process could be restored. Mr Adams had written in the New York based Irish Voice newspaper that an IRA leader made the comments about 25 further years of war at that meeting.

The DUP leader, the Rev Ian Paisley, who met the Northern Secretary Sir Patrick Mayhew in London as part of the preparatory talks process, said the IRA comments proved it was only interested in "total victory".

Mr Spring said progress had been made since the meeting between the IRA leaders and Mr Hume and Mr Adams.

A fixed date for all party talks was set for June 10th which must register on people's minds as moving the agenda forward. "We will keep moving forward towards that date," Mr Spring added.

Notwithstanding that the IRA last week told Mr Adams and Mr Hume it would not hand over any arms short of a negotiated settlement, the reality was that the Mitchell Report established a very viable process to deal with decommissioning.

"What is important now is that we set out on the basis of the communique of last week to get all the parties to the table by June 10th, and I think we should all be working towards that", Mr Spring added.

Over recent years Sinn Fein had worked very hard towards a "peaceful resolution of conflict on this island", he believed.

Mr Adams, in a statement last night, said the Irish Voice article should be considered in full before judgment was made. It should be understood that the article was about remarks made by the IRA to him.

"The peace process can be rebuilt. It requires both governments accepting and playing a leadership role in the peace process and by initiating inclusive peace negotiations without preconditions," he said.

That's what John Hume and are trying to do. It should not it must not, be left to the two of us," Mr Adams added.

Mr Hume, speaking at Castle Buildings, said despite the hard tone of the IRA he was still hopeful of progress.

"They made clear to us that if there are all inclusive talks leading to a negotiated settlement they would be quite prepared to engage in what they described as `unarmed political and social struggle'," he said.

It was now possible that an inclusive peaceful settlement could be achieved that had the allegiance of everyone, he said at Stormont where the SDLP met Alliance and the Ulster Democratic Party. There was no question of any secret deals being struck to help restore the peace process, he added.

The DUP leader Dr Paisley said Mr Hume was trying to put a favourable "spin" on an IRA "statement of threatening intent" He said Mr Hume was either foolish or naive to have engaged with the IRA. Following Mr Adams's account of the IRA's threats, he said the US administration should withdraw its visa for the Sinn Fein leader.

The Irish Voice article proved that the IRA was only interested in "total victory", said Dr Paisley, who was in London yesterday meeting Sir Patrick Mayhew, the Labour leader, Mr Tony Blair, and independent unionist, Mr Robert McCartney, as part of the preparatory talks process.

It further proved that the IRA had rejected the Mitchell report on decommissioning. "The British government, now aware that this is Sinn Fein/IRA's position, must exclude them from all political developments and move on exclusively with the democratic parties," said Dr Paisley.

While the Irish Voice article dominated reporters questions at Castle Buildings yesterday Mr Spring was positive in tone about his encounters there with the Alliance Party and the Workers' Party.

The Tanaiste, who is due back at the venue for a meeting with Sir Patrick Mayhew tomorrow, said intensive meetings would continue up until the deadline of Wednesday next. Thereafter the British government, in the absence of agreement, must decide on the form of election to be held in Northern Ireland prior to all party talks on June 10th.

Alliance leader Dr John Alderdice said his meeting with Mr Spring was very useful.

DRUG trafficking and other serious crime would continue until draconian measures were introduced, a Fine Gael backbencher warned. Mr Brendan McGahon (Louth) said there should be a consensus among the parties about introducing these measures. Otherwise crime would be out of control in 10 years.

One of the measures he advocated was to shoot drug barons. Dublin was now regarded as a clearing house far drugs for Europe. That situation had developed under governments led by Fianna Fail and Fine Gael. The confrontational attitude between the two parties should stop and there should be unanimity on tackling the problem.

If the only way to stop drugs getting into Mountjoy was to end visiting there that should be done.

Mr McGahon was speaking during resumed debate on the Drug Trafficking Bill introduced on Tuesday by the Minister for Justice.

Dr Michael Woods, the Fianna Fail spokesman on law reform, said he agreed with many of the Bill's proposals and with the idea of an all party approach. But if Fianna Fail saw faults in the Government's performance they had a duty to point them out. In the case of this Bill they had correctly condemned the long delay in introducing it.

Mr Brendan Kenneally (FF, Waterford) said the Bill should be seen as an initial response to the whole network of criminality behind the drugs scene. It dealt only with trafficking in drugs and did not address the wider issue of drug treatment or the drug problem within prisons. The resources being put into the problem were inadequate.

Ms Kathleen Lynch (DL, Cork North Central) said the Bill would make life a great deal more difficult for the drug dealers who were preying on young people in every city and town in Ireland. She deplored the "spluttering noises" by the Fianna Fail justice spokesman, Mr John O'Donoghue, on Tuesday that Democratic Left was "soft on crime".

"On the contrary, my party believes that every crime must carry an appropriate punishment and that the punishment must be fully implemented."