The pressure mounted in the Northern Ireland peace process tonight as Ulster Unionist leader Mr David Trimble pledged to continue his sanctions against Sinn Fein in the Stormont executive.
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Mr David Trimble
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Mr Trimble, who held a three-hour strategy meeting with party officers in Belfast, reaffirmed his decision to stick with the ban on Education Minister Mr Martin McGuinness and Health Minister Ms Bairbre de Brun from attending cross-border body meetings in letters to both politicians.
The Northern Ireland First Minister, who also faces a meeting of the Ulster Unionist executive tomorrow, said he was sticking with the sanctions because Sinn Fein was not using its influence to bring about IRA disarmament.
Mr Trimble, whose ban was declared legal by a Belfast High Court judicial review last week, said the judgment enabled him to withhold nominations to North-South Ministerial Council meetings if he believed a minister's party was not doing everything to faithfully implement the Belfast Agreement.
He told Mr McGuinness and Ms de Brun: "I'm of the opinion that in the current circumstances you are unsuitable for nomination under Section 52 of Northern Ireland Act 1998 to attend and contribute to the work of the North-South Ministerial Council because you have not made appropriate efforts to implement the Agreement in all its aspects and are seeking to undermine that agreement."
Mr Trimble's letter drew an angry response from republicans, with Ms de Brun claiming it would undermine efforts to try and resolve differences between the parties on the issues of disarmament, policing and the scaling down of military installations in the province.
Sinn Fein MLA Mr Gerry Kelly accused Mr Trimble of widening the gap between the two parties instead of bridging it.
Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams was involved in behind the scenes efforts involving the British and Irish governments to try and broker a deal before the peace process slipped into further crisis.
However Whitehall sources insisted that there was no sign as yet that a breakthrough formula was close.
PA