Many grassroots DUP members feel betrayed by their leader, they tell Dan Keenan, Northern News Editor, but others still have faith
MEP Jim Allister believes there to be "considerable unease" among the DUP grassroots over the sight of Ian Paisley and Gerry Adams sitting together.
His resignation, and those of two councillors so far in the Paisley heartland of Ballymena, give some idea of degree of heart-searching going on.
Some have talked publicly of a Paisley sell-out and treachery and claim and believe many others silently agree.
But while the party appears initially to have managed its internal dissent quite well, there are still worrying signs for the DUP leadership that the defections may not end here.
Jack McKee, a former Protestant Unionist, a founder member of the DUP and for 34 years a DUP councillor before he quit over the St Andrews Agreement last autumn, says he speaks for many when he describes his revulsion at Monday's TV pictures.
"My response was one of sadness and disappointment and betrayal of all that we stood for all those years," he said. He is clear in his own mind that the driving consideration behind the decision to enter government with Sinn Féin was his former party leader's personal ambition.
"Was this all about fulfilling one man's goal and reaching the top job? That agenda is coming out very clear, there was that ambition.
"I'm saddened that I for 40 years have given my allegiance to a party that commits such an act of betrayal and that had gone back on every principle that it ever stood for. I think to bring unrepentant terrorists into government is unforgivable."
He is not alone. Referring to his local stronghold in Larne, he adds: "There is a large section of the people who think as I do. I think people will see there has been a sell-out on a massive scale. The DUP's troubles have only started."
Those who stood in opposition to Paisley were humbled in the Assembly election, but McKee believes opponents to sharing power with Sinn Féin will not remain leaderless for long. "Somewhere in the shadows there is a leader and he will step out to give Ulster the leadership it needs," he said. "I have a name in mind."
Roy Gillespie, a long-standing Paisley cohort from solidly unionist Ahoghill near Ballymena, insisted: "The only comment I want to give at this stage is - from day one when this whole thing started I'm totally and strongly opposed to IRA-Sinn Féin being in the government of Northern Ireland. That's where I stand."
He will say no more, but is content to leave the impression hanging that action will follow his words.
It's a tactic shared by others in the Ballymena area who, for the moment, are happy to hint but reluctant to be specific. Cllr Robin Stirling simply says: "I have no comment to make at this stage. In the near future my attitudes will become very obvious. There will be an announcement in the near future, but The Irish Times will not make me work to a given calendar."
Are such voices in the majority? Apparently not.
Paul Frew, another of the Ballymena DUP group, is taking a longer and more sanguine view of Monday's ground-breaking developments.
Like the nay-sayers, Councillor Frew admits the sight of Paisley and Adams together ahead of powersharing was difficult to accept.
"I thought it was hard to take. It's something that was very unpalatable. But the feelings I have were no doubt the same feelings that Dr Paisley has."
Quickly turning to the positive, he adds: "I believe that Dr Paisley has made a stand here for the good of the people of Northern Ireland. I don't believe it was a breach of faith with the Ulster people. I think we did well in the most recent election. It was the DUP which called for that election. I believe that we have been mandated to go into government, to go into devolution." He explains the DUP's dramatic embracing of powersharing with republicans in the following terms, believing the wider unionist electorate to be behind the party.
"[ This] is something that the DUP executive and Dr Paisley felt needed to be done to advance our cause and ultimately the cause of Northern Ireland. We have been the lead party in Northern Ireland. We have been able to put extreme pressure on Sinn Féin to follow into something that is more acceptable."
There is still work to be done, he believes, not only by Sinn Féin but also by the British government.
Republicans have taken plenty of time throughout this peace process to get used to the idea "that their united Ireland is still a dream", he says.
"We need time as a democratic party to test the bona fides of Sinn Féin, that they are indeed going to behave like a democratic party." In contrast to those who insist that Paisley has lost his political touch, Frew advises a longer view be taken.
What about those who say this is a bridge too far? "I can understand their concerns. I know it's too far for some and I understand that. But I know there has been a lot of soul-searching and a lot of praying. I don't believe Dr Paisley is a traitor, he has done his best for the people and he has done that throughout his career. There are things that have been said in the past that others are now casting up. That's only for Dr Paisley to answer himself. I feel that the bulk of the people are most definitely behind the DUP."
Time indeed will tell.