John Cooney reports on Dublin's hope that by amending its

constitutional claim to the north, Ulster Unionists can be persuaded to

come to the negotiating table

A KEY section of the framework document for a political settlement in

Ulster is a commitment by the Irish Government to hold a referendum to

end its territorial claim over Northern Ireland, according to diplomatic

sources in Dublin.

The Irish Government has agreed to modify articles two and three of

the Republic's constitution, which are regarded by Ulster Unionists as

an imperialist claim but which are cherished by nationalists as a solemn

expression of their goal of a united Ireland.

The constitution, enacted in 1937, was the brain-child of Eamon de

Valera, the leader of the main political party, Fianna Fail. These two

articles express in legal form the traditional nationalist case for

political union.

Article two defines ''the nationalist territory'' as consisting of the

whole island of Ireland, its islands and the territorial seas. Article

three suspends the enforcement in the north of laws passed by the Dail

(parliament) pending the reintegration of the national territory.

But attempts by Britain to persuade the Republic to delete these two

articles completely from the constitution have met with limited success.

The Irish have refused to do so on the grounds that this would be seen

by the minority nationalist community in the six counties as an

abandonment of their right to be Irish, and it would allow the IRA to

claim that they alone champion the unification of the island.

A compromise has been reached between the British and Irish which will

result in a new phrase being added to article two which will describe

the island as a shared inheritance of all the people living there. The

net effect of this addition should be to put the emphasis on the people

of the island rather than territory as a badge of nationality.

In a similar spirit, article three will be rewritten to guarantee

Westminster and the Ulster Unionists that the status of Northern Ireland

within the United Kingdom will not change until a majority there want a

united Ireland.

The combined effect of these two proposed changes should be to remove

Unionists' fears that these two articles amount to ''a claim'' on

Northern Ireland, high level Government sources in Dublin told The

Herald yesterday.

In spite of the continued hostility of Unionists to this formula,

Prime Minister John Major is prepared to accept Dublin's assurances that

it will renounce its ''claim''. In effect, Dublin will ask the

Republic's electorate to incorporate into its constitution the notion of

majority consent for any change in the status of Northern Ireland.

The broad thrust of these modifications had been agreed by Albert

Reynolds, the former Irish Prime Minister and co-architect with John

Major of the peace initiative. As Mr Reynolds was the leader of Fianna

Fail, his successor as Prime Minister, John Bruton, has stuck to this

wording.

In return, Britain will undertake to repeal or amend an obscure and

forgotten part of the 1920 Government of Ireland Act -- which

underpinned the partition of the island. Section 75 of this Act states

that the ''supreme authority'' of the Westminster Parliament shall

remain unaffected and undiminished over all persons and things in

Ireland ''and every part thereof''.

In the eyes of Irish republicans, this section is a much more

categorical claim than irredentist clauses of articles two and three of

the constitution.

Mr Bruton's calculation is that this deal will win the support of the

new Fianna Fail leader, Bertie Ahern. In the Dail yesterday Mr Bruton

announced that he will give Mr Ahern a confidential briefing on the

framework document on Friday, a sign that all-party unity in Dublin will

match the Mayhew-Blair co-operation at Westminster.

Speculation that Mr Ahern is ready to attack any alterations in

articles two and three have been vigorously denied by the Fianna Fail

leader. He knows that the document was largely shaped by Albert Reynolds

before his resignation last November. Mr Ahern wants to claim a share of

the credit for its formulation.

The backing of Fianna Fail, which commands about 46% support among

voters, will be crucial to the success of a referendum south of the

Irish border. Another important factor for Mr Bruton, whose Fine Gael

party forms a coalition with Labour and Democratic Left, is that Sinn

Fein is likely to be influenced by Fianna Fail.

If keeping Fianna Fail sweet is a domestic priority for Mr Bruton,

convincing the Unionists that the framework document is not a

nationalist agenda is the precondition of all-round constitutional talks

getting under way.

Yesterday Mr Bruton claimed that there is nothing for anyone to fear

in the document, which is ''a fair and balanced'' basis for discussion,

not a blueprint.

Senior officials in Dublin do not underestimate the strength of

opposition from Unionists to proposed cross-border bodies with executive

functions on matters such as agriculture, tourism, trade and the

environment. But these officials hope that Unionists will accept that

these bodies do not amount to an All-Ireland authority. Their operations

will not take sovereignty away from Britain.

Such bodies will be subject to the control of the Dail and a devolved

parliament in Belfast, the details of which are to be proposed by Mr

Major in an internal proposal that will be launched simultaneously with

the joint framework document.

The way is now clear for these two long-awaited documents to be

unveiled by Mr Major and Mr Bruton at a summit within 10 days. The venue

is likely to be Belfast, a sign that the two Governments want to call

the Unionists' bluff.

However, without Unionist involvement in round-table talks, the

framework document will remain unimplemented. London and Dublin will

have the difficult task of persuading the Unionists to come to the

negotiating table.