Sinn Fein's chief negotiator, Mr Martin McGuinness, has insisted his party is not "politically accountable" for any IRA action or the action of any armed group.
Later last night, the Sinn Fein president, Mr Gerry Adams, said he was "pissed off" trying to make the peace process work while those who had no interest in it were using the deaths of two people last week to wreck it.
Speaking at a press conference in Dublin Castle yesterday, Mr McGuinness said Sinn Fein was being subjected to a "kangaroo court" and the British government had already decided to eject his party "at the behest of David Trimble". According to Mr McGuinness, the Irish Government, was not supporting the move to get his party out, a move based on "spurious allegations". He said the party might consider the option of a legal action if ejected.
No specific allegations were being made against the party in the Northern Secretary, Dr Mo Mowlam's "speaking note" at yesterday's talks, and there was no justification for taking this action, he said.
If Sinn Fein is expelled, it will have to "give consideration to the implications of our exclusion". However, he did not expect to be put out of the process. "Yes, there is a lynch-mob of unionists out there, led by the British government, trying to bring that about. But we intend to fight their worst efforts every step of the way", Mr McGuinness said.
He accused the Ulster Unionist Party of "double standards" over the deaths of dozens of Catholics who were treated "in death" as second-class citizens. Sinn Fein had asked the Northern Secretary if she had received an assessment from the RUC Chief Constable into who was responsible for the murders of Liam Conway and John McColgan, but got no answer.
His party could also ask if there was an assessment into who killed Bernadette Martin, James Morgan, Sean Browne, Michael McGoldrick, Edmund Traynor or Larry Brennan and "many, many more". There would be no answer to those questions and this was "disgraceful".
The overwhelming majority of nationalists would be very angry the RUC Chief Constable had the power to influence these negotiations.
His party was responsible for bringing about a process of negotiations "which will end all armed actions by all armed groups in our society". He added: "There are no organic roots between Sinn Fein and the IRA."
He asked how the expulsion of his party would assist the search for peace on this island. The only reason people were sitting in Dublin Castle was because of Sinn Fein.
He and his party leader "were telling people on the streets of Derry and Belfast that there should be no more killing, that our job as political representatives was to negotiate and chart a course away from conflict on this island. We have been consistent in that. The question for many people has to be whether or not Mr Trimble has been consistent", Mr McGuinness said. The UUP leader "has to be taken to task" over what happened in Drumcree and "right through".