The SDLP chairman, Mr Alex Attwood, has warned that half of the UDA's "command areas" are no longer observing a ceasefire and has called for measures to protect nationalist homes and businesses from attack.
Mr Attwood, who led an SDLP delegation to Dublin yesterday, told Government officials that three of the UDA's six "command areas" had broken the ceasefire. He gave details of an SDLP paper, already given to the British government and the RUC, containing specific proposals for the physical protection of vulnerable homes and business premises.
The SDLP delegation was the first political group on the island to meet the Republic's new Human Rights Commission, which it visited yesterday afternoon. Mr Attwood said the commission should immediate ly begin work "to have a charter of rights for all the island and citizens of Ireland. This proposal is referred to in the Good Friday agreement and it is timely to see work commence on the charter."
He said the island could "become a world leader in protecting the rights of the citizens of the island. Vigorous work by the two human rights commissions (including a joint programme of work), a new bill of rights in the North and a charter of rights on the island can give a lead to other divided countries and communities on how to protect and promote human rights".
The party's international secretary, Cllr Margaret Ritchie, Coleraine councillor Mr Billy Leonard and an adviser on human rights, Prof Colin Harvey, were also on the delegation, which met Amnesty International in the afternoon before returning to Northern Ireland.
The Catholic Primate, Archbishop Sean Brady, has welcomed the two governments' proposals for Northern Ireland, which he believes are "fair and balanced". The violence in recent weeks was a reminder of the risk of failure, he said.