Sinn Féin's refusal to endorse the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) is the fundamental issue blocking agreement on restoration of Stormont, the DUP said yesterday.
Lagan Valley MP Jeffrey Donaldson denied DUP obstruction was the root cause of any stalemate in the run-up to the governments' November 24th deadline for agreement on power sharing.
Admitting his party had noted yesterday's positive report on IRA activity by the Independent Monitoring Commission (IMC), Mr Donaldson insisted acceptance of the new policing arrangements by republicans was a pre-requisite.
"That is the fundamental issue - do Sinn Féin support the police and accept the rule of law?" he asked.
"[ If] they want to be in a government that is responsible for administering the rule of law in Northern Ireland then they have to support the rule of law, they have to support the police. That is absolutely fundamental in any democratic society. So far they show no indication of crossing that line." Pressed on the IMC assertion that the IRA was not involved in paramilitarism, Mr Donaldson said such a shift was just "one aspect of what needs to happen", he told BBC Radio Ulster.
"The IMC report indicates that progress has been made, we have acknowledged that," he said, adding that the DUP was still concerned that the IRA's command structures remain.
"Dr Paisley has suggested that the next stage should be to form an old comrades association rather than continuing to exist as an illegal organisation.
"But that does not overcome the difficulties [ caused by] Sinn Féin's lack of support for the police and the rule of law. When young people are being raped and brutalised and abused on our streets Sinn Féin still refuses to ask people to give information to the police to apprehend the criminals responsible. We appear a long way from the kind of progress that will see [ Stormont] restored." Sinn Féin continues to assert that DUP intransigence is the outstanding issue blocking devolution.
Fermanagh-South Tyrone MP Michelle Gildernew added to that by accusing Dr Paisley's party of being loud on republican activity while not doing enough to confront loyalist activity in DUP constituencies.
"Those are the places where loyalists are able to run amok and Jeffrey Donaldson doesn't seem to get as excited about those things. The DUP cannot keep crying about what Sinn Féin and the IRA is not doing when there is criminality going on under their noses."
SDLP leader Mark Durkan endorsed this view at a seminar yesterday in Co Armagh involving representatives of the southern parties. Yesterday's IMC report "paints a damning picture of loyalists", he said.
"They remain active, dangerous and up to their necks in crime. Unionist parties must face up to this - instead of serially overlooking loyalist violence.
"Indeed, the fact that the UVF is so heavily criticised for refusing to do anything to end its activity or decommission its weaponry poses obvious questions for the UUP, given their Assembly link with the UVF's political wing." Mr Durkan welcomed what the IMC had to say about the IRA but added: "We are dismayed that it has taken this long to get this far."