All sides welcome Ireland package: Major calls for further assurance on ceasefire but says IRA 'nearly there'. David McKittrick and Colin Brown report

JOHN MAJOR appeared last night to have pulled off a diplomatic coup by producing a package of measures which brought a welcome, with varying degrees of warmth, from almost all parts of the political spectrum.

Sinn Fein seemed to take the message from the lifting of the broadcasting ban and the symbolic opening of some cross-border roads that the Government is taking the peace process seriously.

Although the Prime Minister called for more assurance that the IRA ceasefire is permanent, it was noticed that he declared: 'They are nearly there.'

The pledge to hold a referendum in Northern Ireland on the future of the province secured the support of the Ulster Unionists and Tory critics for the Prime Minister.

John Major was determined not to go ahead unless he was convinced it would be welcomed by the Unionists. There were late- night calls to canvass opinion on Thursday.

Mr Major spoke to James Molyneaux, the Ulster Unionist leader, who was on a visit to Australia; William Ross, the Ulster Unionist whip; and Andrew Hunter, chairman of the Tory backbench Northern Ireland committee. Sir Patrick Mayhew, Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, and Michael Ancram, Minister of State, spoke to key opinion formers including Archbishop Eames, the Anglican Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland, and leading Unionists.

Ministerial sources last night strongly denied Sinn Fein claims that the concessions to the IRA meant that the 'clock had started ticking' for talks with Sinn Fein to begin within three months.

While the Government is never going to move as fast as the republicans would like, Mr Major's package will be viewed in republican circles as a firm indication that the Government is in the business of responding to their moves.

It will also be noted that the Prime Minister conspicuously refrained from making the handing- in of IRA weaponry a pre-condition for the starting of contacts. In response to a question on IRA weaponry, he said: 'These are matters we will have to discuss in the talks about talks when we are able to engage in them.'

The Irish government and the SDLP welcomed yesterday's developments, having previously been irritated by what they viewed as an excessively slow and cautious response to the IRA ceasefire.

The moves go a long way to closing the gap which had opened up between London and Dublin over the proper pace of events.

With regard to the referendum on any political settlement, the Taoiseach, Albert Reynolds, indicated his intention to hold a simultaneous poll on the southern side of the border. His lack of annoyance that Mr Major should announce a referendum in the North while making no reference to the South is seen as an indication that Dublin was aware of the Prime Minister's intentions and had no objection to them.

As a next step, Dublin will now hope for an early resolution of the issue of the ceasefire's permanence, which the Irish government has accepted since it was announced.

On the Unionist side, spokesmen for James Molyneaux's Ulster Unionist Party gave an unusually warm welcome, showing Mr Major's close understanding with Mr Molyneaux remains in good shape.

The party was particularly pleased by the referendum announcement, greeting it as a guarantee that the people of Northern Ireland would be able to exercise self-determination.

Senior Whitehall sources said Mr Major was concerned to build the confidence of the majority in Northern Ireland and had decided to make explicit what had been implicit since inter-party talks in 1991, that any constitutional settlement would be put to a referendum. The timing of the lifting of the broadcasting ban was not decided until late on Thursday night.

Members of the Rev Ian Paisley's Democratic Unionist Party were the odd men out in their cool response. While the party accepted the referendum commitment as an advance, one spokesman spoke of Mr Major giving the IRA a life- support machine.