Unionists in Northern Ireland will neither endorse nor tolerate an administration that included Sinn Féin for the foreseeable future, the Ulster Unionist Party leader, Mr David Trimble, said yesterday.
Speaking before his meeting with the Taoiseach and his Ministers at Government Buildings yesterday, Mr Trimble said that in the wake of the Northern Bank raid, "there is no question now of the old game continuing". The Northern Bank raid was a significant factor in this, but was not the only one, he said.
"One of the main reasons why we have come here today is to make clear to the Irish Government the very changed situation we are now in."
Referring to the bank raid and other criminal activity, he said: "It is our considered view as to the result of these actions by the republican movement that it would be impossible as things stand, and I think also for the foreseeable future, to have a situation where the majority of the unionists elected in Northern Ireland would be prepared to endorse or even tolerate an administration that included Sinn Féin.
"It has to be appreciated that we are now in quite a different situation than the situation even two months ago during the final stages of the DUP-Sinn Féin negotiation. We are now in quite a different situation, and we are here to see if minds are prepared to focus on where we go as a result of that."
Speaking after the meeting, UUP MLA Mr Michael McGimpsey said the meeting had been cordial, but "clearly the situation is very serious. We cannot conceive of a situation in which unionists would share power with Sinn Féin in a devolved executive for the foreseeable future. We think that the Northern Bank raid was basically the straw that broke the camel's back. We have had a number of incidents like this, and I think that that has done serious damage to the situation where we have a paramilitary army and we have its political wing.
"It seems to us that the resolute response we require from both governments is to respond to the paramilitary army. They are the ones who are doing the damage.
"They are the ones who are causing all of the problems and Sinn Féin and Mr Adams and Mr McGuinness are merely their obedient nodding donkeys who are wheeled out whenever the IRA do something that they shouldn't do and are there to excuse the IRA."
He claimed that senior republicans were "making fortunes out of all sorts of criminal activity". The Northern Bank raid was merely the latest such action.
On Sinn Féin he said: "It seems to us that you can't do business with their political wing while their military wing is still in operation."
Sir Reg Empey said that inaction would mean everyone was being punished for the actions of one group. "That is not consistent with the agreement which says that everybody has to be committed to exclusively peaceful means."
He said that if the Governments did nothing they would effectively be punishing the democrats and destroying the Assembly because of a bank robbery.