Unease among senior members of the Democratic Unionist Party deepened tonight over junior minister Ian Paisley's controversial lobbying for major development projects in his constituency.
Even though there was no sense of any move in the DUP to oust him, authoritative party sources confirmed the affair had caused huge embarrassment and disquiet in their ranks.
One said: "While I don't think there's a member who believes Ian has done anything terribly wrong, there is concern about the way this issue has been handled.
"It is fair to say some members, including people in senior positions, are unhappy that stories about Ian's lobbying activities are continuing to haunt him and the party.
"Party officers have been keen to distance the party from these stories. They want it to be clear they did not know what Ian was lobbying for.
Mr Paisley has been criticised in the Assembly for canvassing support for developer Seymour Sweeney's bid to build a visitors' centre at the Giant's Causeway and a £50 million land deal he was involved in in Ballee near Ballymena.
In a letter released to Traditional Unionist MEP Jim Allister under the Freedom of Information Act it emerged last night Tony Blair referred six constituency issues Mr Paisley raised during the October 2006 St Andrews talks to Northern Ireland Office ministers.
These included issues affecting the Giant's Causeway, the future of St Patrick's Barracks in Ballymena, the development of a spa resort with 200 homes and a judicial review over the contested land deal in Ballee.
In a terse statement, DUP officers denied any of the issues Mr Paisley raised with the then Prime Minister were part of their shopping list at the St Andrews negotiations.
A bullish Mr Paisley today denied it was a resigning matter.
PA