The UUP leader, Mr David Trimble, in intensifying his effort to sell the devolution/ decommissioning deal, addressed about 70 senior members of his party at a private meeting at Stormont last night.
The officers of the North's 18 Westminster constituencies gathered in the Long Gallery at Stormont to hear Mr Trimble argue that the package on government and guns hammered out during the Mitchell review offered the best chance of achieving stable government and IRA decommissioning.
Four members from each association - all of whom are members of the 860-member Ulster Unionist Council which on Saturday will determine whether the deal will be endorsed - were invited to the meeting.
Mr Trimble and his key aides view this as a crucial part of his battle to persuade the UUP's supreme ruling body that the review package should be accepted. Members from the 18 constituency associations carry about 650 votes at the UUC, and it could be critical to his winning the vote on Saturday if Mr Trimble succeeds in persuading the senior officers to lobby at constituency association level on behalf of the deal.
Mr Trimble is due to address a branch of his Upper Bann constituency in Portadown tonight. The Northern Secretary, Mr Peter Mandelson, may also attend that meeting, although the Northern Ireland Office could not confirm this.
Mr Mandelson brought a critical response from Sinn Fein's chief negotiator, Mr Martin McGuinness, when he said in the House of Commons that, in the absence of decommissioning, he would not hesitate to suspend the executive if the IRA were to "default" on decommissioning.
"There is no default mechanism in the Good Friday agreement," said Mr McGuinness. "The default scenario presented today by the British government is clearly outside the terms of the agreement."
And amid reports of disquiet within the republican camp the Sinn Fein president, Mr Gerry Adams, is to address an ardchomhairle meeting in Dublin tomorrow. The meeting was likely to witness a "frank exchange of views" on recent developments, a spokesman said.
Senior pro-agreement unionists such as Mr Trimble, Sir Reg Empey, Mr Ken Maginnis, Mr Michael McGimpsey and Mr Dermot Nesbitt were to the fore yesterday in presenting the case for the deal on radio and television.
The media blitz is set to continue until Saturday. The opponents of the deal within the UUP also stepped up their campaign. Mr Jeffrey Donaldson appeared on UTV's Insight programme last night with Mr Trimble, although not face to face. Both politicians made separate pitches for and against the review package.
Ms Pauline Armitage, a UUP Assembly member from East Derry, confirmed yesterday she would oppose the deal at the UUC meeting. This will not come as a surprise as Ms Armitage is known to be committed to the principle of guns before government.
The DUP also reconfirmed that it would take its seats in an executive, even if it included Sinn Fein. The party leader, the Rev Ian Paisley, said the DUP would enter the executive to "wreck the republican agenda".
Mr Nesbitt accused the DUP of hypocrisy. "They pretend to carry the big stick of unionist opposition and yet have consistently operated a host of Assembly committees which already include Sinn Fein," he said.
The DUP deputy leader, Mr Peter Robinson, said he believed republicans had no intention of decommissioning, and he contended that reported statements supporting this allegedly made by two senior Sinn Fein members, Mr Pat Doherty and Mr Martin Ferris, in the US were correct.
He did not accept republican claims that the Sinn Fein politicians were incorrectly quoted even though they said they were committed to the idea that decommissioning was an essential part of a settlement.
However, Mr Adams, in a direct response to a call from Mr Trimble to clarify the party's stance on the issue, stated last night that decommissioning was only possible on a voluntary basis but that it was "an essential part of the peace process".
"There is no hidden agenda. Sinn Fein's public position is our private position. Our party wants to see the full implementation of the Good Friday agreement," he said.
