Around 300 people attended the DUP's first anti-agreement rally at the Leisure Centre in Larne, Co Antrim, last night. The Rev Ian Paisley said the Ulster Unionists had allowed the Union to be "swept away" by agreeing to the settlement.
The rally is the first in a series planned as part of the Democratic Unionist Party's campaign against the Northern Ireland Peace Agreement. Dr Paisley claimed the Ulster Unionist leader, Mr David Trimble, had "sold the title deeds of Ulster".
"For any man [Trimble] in his position and any party in its position at this hour of crisis to tell people that the Union is strengthened is to tell a colossal lie. Under the deal, the Union will be fundamentally weakened. The 1920 Northern Ireland Act has been swept away by David Trimble, while Articles 2 and 3 may not even be altered. In fact, Articles 2 and 3 might not be changed because the South of Ireland has won the right not to do anything until this blueprint of our destruction is implemented."
Dr Paisley told the audience, to loud applause, the people of Ulster "will remain and die British" despite attempts by the British Prime Minister, Mr Blair, to secure a Yes vote for the agreement.
Dr Paisley objected to the agreement because it guaranteed Sinn Fein a place in the planned Northern Ireland Assembly before the IRA handed over any weapons, while nationalists would have a veto over key decisions in the new Assembly.
Deputy leader, Mr Peter Robinson, said a Yes vote was "a yes to the destruction of your country".
Mr Robinson said Mr Trimble had signed up to a deal that "discriminates" against Protestant and that no "£100 million bribes" from the United States would allow them to "sell-out Ulster".
"David Trimble has signed up to the working success of getting Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness in government, working for the success of a nationalist veto in the Assembly, working for the success of an All-Ireland body with executive powers and working for the success of a new police organisation which will destroy the RUC, working to getting terrorists on our streets and working for the success of no requirement to decommissioning. There can only be one answer to all of that - no to Dublin rule."
The crowd gave Dr Paisley a standing ovation for his rousing speech, which was also peppered with humour, mainly at the expense of Mr Trimble. Dr Paisley said Mr Trimble's speech in the Forum to debate the agreement on Friday was "so moving that he moved out of the Forum".
The DUP leader is set to be backed by one of the UUP MPs opposed to the agreement. Mr William Thompson has agreed to share a platform with Dr Paisley and the UK Unionists at a No campaign rally in Belfast's Ulster Hall.
Mr Thompson, MP for West Tyrone, is one of six UUP MPs against the Northern Ireland agreement. And while Ulster Unionist MP Mr Jeffrey Donaldson has said he will not share a platform against the agreement with the DUP and UKUP, the four other anti-agreement members of the UUP are believed to be undecided.