The assurances to the Ulster Unionist Party conference by Mr David Trimble that Sinn Fein would not be accepted into the northern Assembly executive without decommissioning received a broad welcome from delegates.
An Antrim borough councillor and party executive member, Mr Roderick Swann, said Mr Trimble had laid it clearly on the line that party policy would be strictly adhered to.
He added that the amended motion on the constitution would bring the different strands of opinion within the party together.
"The resolution is very clear - no sitting in government with Sinn Fein, or any paramilitary group, until such time as substantial decommissioning takes place. And we should be pushing very hard to call Tony Blair to book and let him honour the pledges he actually put on paper. I think the whole conference really just reinforced that today," said Mr Swann.
Mr Richard Petrie, of the party's Galgorm and Cullybackey branch and pressure group Union First, was impressed by Mr Trimble's speech, saying it showed an appreciation of the different strands of opinion within the UUP.
Referring to Mr Trimble's assertion that an executive could be formed now without Sinn Fein, Mr Petrie said: "There's no reason why an executive can't be set up amongst constitutional politicians. Of course, it depends on other parties willing to toe the constitutional line. Would the SDLP be willing to join with the other constitutional parties in creating a better government for Northern Ireland? "The big issues that lie ahead, such as health, education and agriculture, need to be dealt with as a matter of urgency, and it would certainly be preferable, as far as I am concerned, that an executive be set up sooner rather than later."
Mr David Thompson, chairman of the party's Portadown branch and Mr Trimble's agent during the Assembly elections, said the party had taken risks for democracy and was now going into unknown territory for many of its members.
Mr Trimble's commitment to decommissioning in his speech had not been unexpected, he added.
"I knew that when it came to the point where everything that could be done had been done, then it would be up to those who are not democrats yet to prove that they were, and we haven't had that.
"And I had absolutely no doubt that David would go no further, that he would get to the point where nothing else could be achieved, and if the system hadn't loosened up he would actually stop at that point", said Mr Thompson.
Mrs Janet Crilly from Newtownabbey said Unionists had gone so far that they could go no further. "I think that David Trimble has to make Blair stick to the message he gave us. I know it was only a note he gave us beforehand, but he made a commitment that men who were not committed to peace would not be in the executive. We've gone as far as we can and there has to be some movement from Sinn Fein now."