(16 May 1997) English/Nat

Tony Blair has made his first trip to Northern Ireland since being elected British Prime Minister.

Speaking in Belfast on Friday, he opened the way for British government officials to talk to Sinn Fein, the political wing of the Irish Republican Army (I-R-A).

But he made it clear his offer of contact with Sinn Fein was made on the condition that the I-R-A did not carry out further acts of violence.

Multi-party negotiations on the future of the province are due to resume on June 3.

Tony Blair travelled to Northern Ireland on Friday, his first trip to the troubled province since his landslide election victory.

He used the opportunity to offer a concession to Sinn Fein, the political wing of the I-R-A.

SOUNDBITE:
I am ready to make one further effort to proceed with the inclusive talks process. My message to Sinn Fein is clear: the settlement train is leaving, I want you on that train but it is leaving anyway and I will not allow it to wait for you. You can not hold the process to ransom any longer so end the violence and end it now. I want to hear Sinn Fein's answer and to make sure there is no danger of a misunderstanding I am prepared to allow officials to meet Sinn Fein provided events on the ground here and elsewhere do not make that impossible.
SUPER CAPTION: Tony Blair, British Prime Minister

British government contacts with Sinn Fein were broken off after the I-R-A bombed Canary Wharf last February ending a 17-month ceasefire.

However, if Sinn Fein was hoping for a more conciliatory tone under a new British government it was in for something of a disappointment.

SOUNDBITE:
"But let me again make one thing absolutely clear. Northern Ireland is part of the United Kingdom because that is the wish of the majority of people who live here. It will remain part of the United Kingdom for as long as that remains the case. This principal of consent is and will be at the heart of my government's policies on Northern Ireland.
SUPER CAPTION: Tony Blair, British Prime Minister

But he said he wants the Northern Ireland peace process move forward.

SOUNDBITE:
"I am from a different generation, there is a different generation of people here and elsewhere throughout the United Kingdom, we want to move on and we want to move forward and there is the warmth and goodwill that is there at the moment as a new government takes charge. That voice of reason is what I want to ring out loud and clear here in Northern Ireland."
SUPER CAPTION: Tony Blair, British Prime Minister

Sinn Fein's chief negotiator, Martin McGuinness, denounced Blair's Belfast speech.

Police snipers on the rooves around the venue a reminder of Northern Ireland's precarious security situation.

The Prime Minister's first port of call on arriving in Northern Ireland Friday morning was Armagh.

The Prime Minister got a warm welcome from Armagh's loyalist Protestant mayor - and in his turn Blair paid tribute to the achievements of his predecessor, John Major.

Negotiations chaired by the former U-S Senator, George Mitchell, are due to resume a year after they first began at the beginning of June.

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