A senior Sinn Féin figure has said it is time to "name and shame" the "pro-unionist element" in the Northern Ireland civil service and police service which, he claimed, was actively working to undermine the peace process.
Speaking in Dublin yesterday before meeting the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Cowen, Mr Gerry Kelly said the disappearance from the Castlereagh security complex of a document containing the names of many paramilitary suspects may be a further example of this.
It emerged on Wednesday that 28 members of the Royal Irish Regiment were withdrawn from security duties at the complex arising from this disappearance.
Referring to reports that this document may have fallen into the hands of loyalist paramilitaries, Mr Kelly said yesterday that "there may be people with lives in danger".
He said he had been told by the Northern Ireland security minister, Mr Ian Pearson, that the assessment of the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) was that this information was not in the hands of loyalists. "But he doesn't know where it is."
He said the people listed on this documentation - believed to contain up to 400 names - should be told that their names were on the missing document.
He was calling on Mr Cowen to represent the nationalists view on this matter to the British government He was also calling on Mr Cowen to make representations to the British government over the recent Orange march through Ardoyne, north Belfast.
Some 500 loyalists were allowed by the PSNI to march through the area on July 12th, provoking riots by nationalists. Republicans, including Mr Kelly, have been praised for their intervention to restrain angry nationalists seeking to attack soldiers and police at the scene.
The marchers were allowed into the area despite a ruling by the Parades Commission that while the Orange marchers should be allowed on the route, loyalist "supporters" should not.
"What we are dealing with is a pro-unionist element of people in the civil service and the Police Service of Northern Ireland actively running against the peace process. They have been there for considerable time; they fought against the policing reforms and human rights changes. Some of these are hidden faces. Maybe it is time they were named and shamed."