John Cooney explains the historical cause for Sinn Fein's embarrassing position

A DOCUMENT found more than 20 years ago by Irish police during a raid on a house in Dun Laoghaire, where a prominent IRA leader, Seamus Twomey, was staying, lies at the heart of the current crisis over Sinn Fein's links with the Republican military movement.

Written by the late Twomey, who was IRA chief of staff in the early 1970s, the document argued the case for developing Sinn Fein into a strong political influence as part of the overall Republican ''struggle'' to attain a united Ireland. But hard-nosed Twomey, who was greatly admired by his fellow-Belfastman, Gerry Adams, insisted that Sinn Fein, as the movement's political wing, should remain under the control of the IRA leadership.

Two decades later, as Sinn Fein suffers the humiliation of being expelled from the Northern Ireland peace talks on account of the IRA's alleged responsibility for two murders in Belfast last week, Adams and his seven co-

negotiators, face the dilemma of abiding by the ''Twomey testament'' or breaking the umbilical cord that ties it to ''the struggle''.

Judging from yesterday's continued rearguard fight against expulsion, it is a dilemma which Sinn Fein is still unwilling to confront. This defiance is encouraging speculation that the IRA wants to magnify the disruption of the talks rather than accommodate the wishes of the two Governments for a short-lived Sinn Fein suspension before its readmission for the final phase in late March.

The filibuster approach has taken its toll on Sinn Fein's normally ice-cool image. The emotional pressure on Adams was highlighted in his Monday evening outburst about how ''pissed off'' he was, while Martin McGuin-ness found few believers among the massive media attendance at Dublin Castle when he declared: ''There are

no organic roots between Sinn Fein and the IRA.''

Whatever their protestations, some of the eight-member delegation have had publicised links with the IRA. Adams and McGuinness were members of the IRA delegation that had talks with the Heath Government in 1972.

Gerry Kelly served several prison sentences for IRA activities, including the explosion of bombs at the Old

Bailey in London in 1973.

Martin Ferris was the OC (officer commanding) the IRA wing of Portlaoise Prison after being sentenced to 10 years for attempting to smuggle six tonnes of weapons into the Irish Republic from America.

Rita O'Hare, the press secretary, is still on the wanted list in Northern Ireland. Siobhan O'Hanlon was convicted of firearms and explosive charges in the mid-1980s. There is no evidence of military links relating to the remaining two negotiators, Gorbals-born Pat Doherty and the party's only Irish parliament-arian, Caoimghin O Caoilain, both of whom have high media profiles.

What has traumatised ''the Sinn Fein Eight'' is that their blitzkrieg to present themselves at the victims of a British Government-Ulster Unionist ''lynch mob'' has failed to impress the Irish Government, with Taoiseach Bertie Ahern ready to accept the word of Prime Minister Tony Blair about the evidence incriminating the IRA. Sinn Fein tactics yesterday were to resort to judicial review and to appeal to Mr Ahern to disassociate himself from Britain. At a protest rally outside Dublin Castle of its councillors, Mitchell McLaughlin

re-iterated that the process of indicting Sinn Fein was a fraud and that the party would not accept even a temporary suspension.