Major puts onus on chief constable for the Orange march

Mr Major in a BBC Panorama interview last night declared, in his effort to restore relations with Dublin: ``I don't want to traipse over old ground, that will do no good to the future which is where we must look.''

However he is still angry over the reactions to the Drumcree debacle from Irish Prime Minister John Bruton and Cardinal Cahal Daly, primate of all Ireland. ``I think if mistakes were made, the mistakes that were made were in making those comments.'' Both accused the British Government of pandering to Ulster Unionist force.

Mr Bruton last stood firm over his remarks, but appeared as determined as Mr Major to put the peace process back on course.

``I have seen what I have seen, and I have said what I have said. I see no reason to change what I have said,'' he declared. However, he welcomed talks in the UK-Irish conference. He said it was important that the Governments work together.

``Difficult as it is, and painful as it is, we have got to put the event of the past week behind us,'' he said.

Anti-terrorist police in London may have contributed greatly to keeping the talks going were after successfully thwarting a major IRA bombing campaign.

Last night they were searching for explosives, and seven men were being questioned after being arrested in early morning raids on houses in south London, which uncovered the components for up to 36 bombs.

The timing and power units recovered had been charged up, and police believe London and the South-east were just hours away from the commencement of a potentially devastating campaign.

It added urgency for the two governments, who today will call on all the Northern Ireland parties, including the SDLP to meet to start talking seriously about peace and how this quest can be put back on track.

Former US Senator George Mitchell, who chairs these talks, is expected to join them this afternoon after consultations in Washington. President Clinton has so far kept a significant silence on the marches and no encouragement has been given to Sinn Fein by the White House.

It is now expected that when a special meeting is called on Thursday between Northern Ireland Secretary Sir Patrick Mayhew and Irish Foreign Minister Dick Spring, attended by Sir Hugh, relations between London and Dublin may be restored.

It was emerging at Westminster last night that the White House has been putting pressure on Mr Bruton over what is judged to be his over-reaction to events. The White House and No 10 have been on constant communication over the last week, and Mr Mitchell, when he arrives at Stormont, is expected to add his weight to the ``calm down'' mood.

Yesterday in the Commons, Northern Ireland Secretary Sir Patrick Mayhew, in a full statement on the crisis, was able to maintain cross-party agreement with the proviso that another effort is made to defuse the Orange marches in Northern Ireland next summer.

Mr Major, in his Panorama interview, made it clear the chief constable was faced with an impossible situation in which the British Army may have been obliged to open fire on the massed ranks of Orangemen.

``The problem he faced was that neither side, neither the marchers nor the residents were prepared to reach a compromise to make matters at all easy for the public at large or for the chief constable.'' He insisted Sir Hugh did not seek the advice of the British Government about the Drumcree march.

Mr Major insisted that the comments by Mr Bruton and the cardinal ``would have been better not made''.

He also had a message for the Ulster Unionists: ``I don't think anyone who is sensible can see what has happened as a victory. What happened in Northern Ireland over the last few days was a defeat for common sense. A defeat for the peace process and a defeat for both communities. Anybody claiming a victory out of that I think frankly ought to go away and think again.''

The Prime Minister claimed: ``Both sides were wrong. The Orange Lodge were wrong in seeking to proceed in the way that they did and I think the Garvaghy Road residents were unreasonable in the way they refused to discuss and to compromise for a long time on how a peaceful march could have passed through the Garvaghy Road estate.

``So there is ample blame on both sides and Paddy Mayhew has made that clear. If you get bigotry on both sides you won't get a conclusion. What I have to try and do is to make sure that that bigotry doesn't grow and place a further impediment in progress from now onwards.''

The Prime Minister declared passionately he would continue to restore the peace process, despite the recent violence and despite his anger over reactions to it from Dublin. Mr Major is clearly irritated by what he feels to be a failure by Dublin to keep the main cause of peace in mind.

The IRA ceasefire had shown the people of Ireland what might be achieved ``and what is so terrifying is the way in which that has now stepped back a pace.''

He denied that he is enthralled by the Ulster Unionists on whom he depends for his majority in the Commons. ``That is emphatically not true,'' he said. He could have sat back and taken no action over Northern Ireland and maintained the relationship with the Unionists, traditionally voting for a Tory Government.

``If I am partial, why did I not do that? I haven't done that for the last five years on the basis of what is right for Northern Ireland. I have put the life of this Government at risk from time to time because this Government cares about getting the right sort of policy in Northern Ireland.''

He described his relations with Mr Bruton after discussing events with him on the phone last week as ``very frank - we did not bother with the niceties.''

Mr Major went on: ``I believe it was extremely unhelpful of him to go public later in the way that he did. That did not advance progress one whit, but that is behind us.

``I am sure he and I will be speaking in the next few days.''

In the meantime, Mr Major said last night that the IRA had pulled of a propaganda coup, and they are rubbing their hands with glee.