LEADING ARTICLE : Britain needs Gerry Adams

As ministers at last begin talks with Sinn Fein, they should face up to a crucial question. Do they think that the long-term interests of peace are best served by the republican movement splitting into feuding factions or by Sinn Fein remaining solid and united?

Those whose distrust of the IRA runs deepest believe the republicans will accept nothing less than a united Ireland. They conclude, therefore, that it is only a matter of time before the armed campaign begins afresh, whatever the nature of the agreement secured as a result of the present talks.

According to the logic of this position, Britain's aim in the next phase of the Irish story should be to weaken the republican movement rather than to embrace it. It should engineer a split. Better to have republican factions killing each other than gearing up for a further united assault on the colonial enemy once they have secured part of their objective through negotiation. The history of Irish nationalism - notably the civil war in the Twenties - is littered with examples of such fratricide. Typically the pattern is of former extremists accepting constitutional politics and fighting a bloody conflict, aided by Britain, against those who stay out in the cold.

This train of thought is one you encounter among the most battle-hardened veterans of the war against the IRA. Ministers should resist it. If they judge that violent splits are inevitable, even desirable, then the Government could scarcely commit itself to drawing republicanism wholesale into a political settlement.

The governments of the Republic and, it seems, the United States, have concluded that a more optimistic outcome is possible. In both countries there is a belief that Irish history will not be repeated, that this time a whole rebel community, and not just part of it, can be successfully absorbed into mainstream politics for good. To that end, the US and Irish governments have an investment in republicanism remaining united. As a result, Gerry Adams has been lionised and fted as the man who can bring over the entire bloc.

In contrast, the British government seems undecided about Sinn Fein; unable, it seems, to believe, after 25 years of fighting an implacable enemy, that republicanism can change its spots.

This pessimism seems to lie behind the long delay in ministers arranging to meet Sinn Fein representatives. For two months, until Monday's announcement that talks would indeed begin, everyone recognised that such discussions would take place without the IRA surrendering a single gun. The issue was not whether but when the meetings would start.

It was at first understandable that the Government held back, out of respect for Unionist sensitivities. But the announcement was delayed until long after most people in Northern Ireland had accepted the inevitable. Further hold-ups served only to create suspicion among republicans that Britain is not serious about negotiations. Such suspicion breeds division and, potentially, factionalism.

Only a fool would ignore the gulfs that remain in Northern Ireland. But all sides should now seize a rare chance to include not only most but all elements in the conflict. However unpalatable, a genuine desire for a lasting settlement demands that Britain should seek to unite, not divide, republicanism.