The British government faced unionist demands tonight that Sinn Féin should be excluded from talks to restore the Northern Ireland Assembly.
As Police Service of Northern Ireland Chief Constable Hugh Orde met with the British government to discuss an alleged breach of the IRA ceasefire, the Rev Ian Paisley's Democratic Unionists and Mr David Trimble's Ulster Unionist insisted Sinn Féin must be removed from the review of the Belfast Agreement at Stormont.
DUP deputy leader Mr Peter Robinson declared: "As far as we are concerned we have asked the Secretary of State (Paul Murphy) to put them out of the process, to suspend them and to follow the precedent the (British) government used on a previous occasion with both the representative of the UDA and the IRA.
"Unless the Secretary of State shows in a very tangible way this kind of activity is not acceptable, the IRA will assume it can carry out such activity and can get off with it.
"They can have their cake and eat it."