Struggling to Make History: GERRY ADAMS

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In Belfast a bomb has blown up a truck and the British army has sealed off much of the Catholic Falls Road area. So Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams arrived a bit late for his interview with TIME deputy managing editor John Stacks and London bureau chief Barry Hillenbrand. In discussion: the conditions for participation of Sinn Fein, the political wing of the Irish Republican Army, in peace talks with the British.

Q. TIME: Over the past year, once bitter enemies in South Africa and the Middle East have made tremendous progress in working together. Why haven't you tried to seize the moment here with the British?

A. Adams: I don't believe that reflects a sensible notion because both of those complex situations ((in South Africa and the Middle East)) came into public prominence after years of private and presumably secret deliberations. We have deep-rooted conflict here, the legacy of some hundreds of years. The last year has seen a remarkable turnaround, but it's important that what we achieve in the end is lasting and has a solid foundation.

Q. TIME: But it looks as if Sinn Fein is unwilling to renounce violence as a precondition for talking.

A. Adams: We will talk now. Sinn Fein isn't the obstacle to talks. There needs to be dialogue without preconditions.

Q. TIME: You think the demand for a cessation of violence is a precondition?

A. Adams: I don't think it should be. They talked to us up until last November without preconditions. What they are doing is simply taking a negotiating stance. But the whole lesson of history is that you have to have dialogue. The presence of preconditions simply puts that day off.

Q. TIME: Do you mean you and your party will not say "We renounce violence" at this weekend's Sinn Fein conference or anytime down the road?

A. Adams: I don't remember Nelson Mandela renouncing violence or Arafat genuflecting. It's a two-way process to bring about a demilitarization, to get those involved in armed action to stop. No sane person wants to be engaged in violence. But to put preconditions on people prematurely only makes the situation more problematic. Sinn Fein doesn't advocate violence. We don't advocate armed struggle. We have suffered from the violence. I want to see an unarmed strategy. I want to see a situation where the I.R.A. ceases activities. But the people who are looking down their guns at us are saying, well, you can't talk to us unless you renounce violence. To me it's all meaningless, it's all platitudes.

There is nothing in my political life, or in fact in my other life, that gives me any reason to trust the British. I think every Republican wants peace. But they are not war weary. They don't want to just give up.

Q. TIME: Many believe you are committed to joining the peace process but you are having trouble convincing your colleagues in the movement.