Reg Empey,"DUP has done nothing to achieve devolution"
John Reid,"Loyalists will not secure concessions through violence"
David Trimble has told the House of Commons that he has re-nominated the Ulster Unionist ministers to the Stormont Executive. They had resigned last week because of the lack of progress in decommissioning. The final decision will be taken at a special party meeting on Saturday. The Ulster Unionist leader said that decommissioning is an "important step" but "not the end of the road".
Earlier today, a senior Ulster Unionist made a stinging attack on Reverend Ian Paisley's Democratic Unionist Party. Sir Reg Empey accused the DUP of doing nothing to achieve either devolution or decommissioning. The former Stormont Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Investment said that the leaders of the DUP had turned themselves into gutless wonders.
Mr Empey said that his party welcomed the Sinn Féin statement this morning that there was now forward momentum in the disarmament process. He was speaking at a press conference in the wake of the IRA's move on decommissioning.
The DUP Deputy Leader had criticised the statement of the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning on the IRA's move. Peter Robinson said that vagueness and secrecy surrounded the entire decommissioning operation.
He said that the people of Northern Ireland had been left entirely in the dark about what had actually happened. He said that secret acts were no substitute for a genuine move to give confidence to the Unionist community.
Mr Robinson said that General de Chastelain's statement did not indicate the method used to put weapons beyond use or the type of weapons decommissioned. He said that the statement did not indicate whether the weapons were obsolete or compromised or the extent to which any decommissioning had taken place or indeed whether there was to be any timetable for further such acts.
