A leading member of Union First, the anti-agreement pressure group, has warned Mr David Trimble that Ulster Unionist grassroots will not tolerate any compromise on Sinn Fein's entry into the executive without prior decommissioning.
Mr David Brewster, a UUP honorary secretary, was speaking during the political development debate. It is understood that several leading UUP dissidents, including Mr Willie Ross MP, were refused permission to speak during the debate.
Mr Brewster's address was the focal point for the anti-agreement camp. In a carefully crafted speech, he refrained from making a direct attack on the leadership but warned that any deviation from official party policy would be opposed.
He said the IRA was still involved in training, gun-running, "punishment attacks" and murder. Pointing to Mr Trimble, he said: "Nobody has done more than that man to try and make this agreement work."
Mr Trimble had withstood vilification from some unionists for his efforts, he said, but Lord Salisbury had been "a greater unionist that you or I" and he had recognised when it was time to abandon a mistaken policy. "Ladies and gentlemen, I think the day has come when we have to say, this is a dead agreement. It has ceased to exist."
He pointed to media reports which said that after the conference, when "troublesome" delegates had been soothed, Mr Trimble and the Assembly party would broker a deal to allow Sinn Fein into government before decommissioning.
Mr Brewster said he did not believe the leadership would treat its membership with such contempt, and warned that he and others "wouldn't tolerate it for one minute".
The UUP deputy leader, Mr John Taylor, said all those who signed up to the Belfast Agreement, except Sinn Fein, had made compromises.
The British government had released prisoners; the Republic had voted overwhelmingly "yes" in the referendum; the SDLP had agreed to an East-West Council and the UUP to North-South bodies.
Only "Sinn Fein/IRA" had failed to deliver. Mr Taylor, who is refusing to take part in the Mitchell review, said he had been prepared to talk to Sinn Fein until Provisional IRA gun-running in Florida was uncovered. "The time has come - no more," he said to applause. It was now the responsibility of the two governments and the SDLP - not the UUP - to ensure decommissioning.
UUP Assembly member Mr Ken Robinson said politicians in the North should not forgo the opportunity to argue their case and ensure they weren't subject to "deceitful deals behind closed doors by faithless officials and fly-by-night ministers" from Britain.
The party vice-chairman, Mr James Cooper, said he hoped the conference would leave it to Mr Trimble and the Assembly party to decide when the Belfast Agreement was dead. Many SDLP members were still sceptical about the UUP's intentions, he said. It had a duty to persuade the SDLP that it was committed to power-sharing and inclusiveness.
UUP Assembly member Mr Danny Kennedy said the media had predicted the conference would be his party's "Armageddon". But while UUP grassroots were not always happy with the tactics of their leadership, they never disagreed with its objective of a "stable, peaceful Northern Ireland free from the threat of paramilitary violence".
The SDLP had to decide if in future it wanted to work with Sinn Fein or democratic parties like the UUP. "It is high time Messrs Hume, Mallon and Co made that choice," he added.
UUP councillor Mr Tom Hamilton said he looked forward to the day when the North's politicians could make decisions about health, education and the economy. However, the party had to ensure the IRA's guns were "gone forever. To accept otherwise would be to accept a mafia-controlled government", he said.
The anti-agreement Assembly member, Mr Roy Beggs jnr, said the UUP must not engage in any reckless "throwing of the dice". There must be IRA decommissioning, he said.
"We will not accept spin, only product. Do you trust Mo Mowlam, do you trust Tony Blair with your future? Let us keep our message straight and simple - no guns, no government with Sinn Fein."