The Ulster Unionist Party leader, Mr David Trimble, has written to the Northern Secretary, Dr Mo Mowlam, seeking public clarification of the role of the SDLP and the Irish Government in appointments to public bodies in Northern Ireland.
The demand came following the revelation in leaked Irish Government memoranda that a Department of Foreign Affairs official visited the SDLP councillor, Ms Brid Rodgers, "to go through the current six-monthly list of vacancies on public bodies".
The Workers' Party, meanwhile, has called for a full-scale investigation by the North's Fair Employment Commission "into how Brid Rodgers of the SDLP was able to hold a secret veto over public appointments in Northern Ireland".
In his letter to Dr Mowlam, the Ulster Unionist leader said the Northern Ireland Office was "conniving with the Irish Government to discriminate against members of the unionist community, by giving nationalists the opportunity to advise ministers on appointments".
Mr Trimble asked Dr Mowlam to "explain and clarify in full the position of the Irish Government with regard to the level of its interference in these appointments and explain why confidential briefings on the six-monthly list of vacancies on public bodies are knowingly being given to only one party in Northern Ireland".
The fact that such a process had been occurring, particularly in light of the Nolan Report which sought to regulate the way in which such positions were filled, was a serious reflection on the British government.
"How many applications for positions on public bodies have fallen by the wayside because nationalist representatives who have been given briefings have objected to persons from a unionist background being given a post?
"Indeed, we have been contacted by persons who have felt their applications for posts have failed for no apparent reason and we are prepared to discuss these with you," Mr Trimble said.