Efforts to rebuild the peace process in Northern Ireland could be damaged by the Nationalist attempt to remove "London" from the official name of Derry, Mr David Trimble warned today.
"It will certainly change the atmosphere radically" in negotiations with the two parties, the Ulster Unionist leader said during a visit to Derry.
Mr Trimble said: "It is an exercise in crude sectarian triumphalism. We are getting that from people whom in the past we have worked with in the Assembly and with whom we would hope to work in the future.
"There will be people who will feel that the mask has slipped, that behind the reasonable exterior we have seen crude naked sectarianism at work," he said.
Mr Trimble said he was not surprised Sinn Féin were the "main movers behind this attempt at rebranding" but that he was surprised and disappointed at the failure of the SDLP to resist the sectarian impulse.
Taking the "London" out of the name was hugely symbolic and was seen as an attempt to "air-brush Britishness", said Mr Trimble.
PA