The Sinn Féin President has welcomed the spirit of Mr. Trimble's speech tot he annual meeting of the Ulster Unionist Party Council. He said, though, that the First Minister needed to go beyond rhetoric. Gerry Adams said that he was due to meet Mr. Trimble later this week to follow on from discussions which they had in Washington.
Mr. Adams said that, during their talks in the US, the First Minister had outlined what he meant by a IRA gesture on decommissioning, for the first time. However, he added that no solution was in sight.
The North's First Minister David Trimble said that the creation of a new Northern Ireland is tantalisingly close. The Ulster Unionist leader, who has just returned from Washington, told the annual meeting in Belfast that there is no alternative to the Good Friday Agreement.
He also strongly criticised Unionists who oppose it. Mr. Trimble said that the handover of paramilitary weapons must begin as soon as possible.
Also at the meeting, the Ulster Unionist MEP, Jim Nicholson, has been re-elected as one of the party's four vice presidents, but only scraped through by 16 votes.
The East Derry MP, Willie Ross, who is opposed to the Good Friday Agreement, failed to get elected. The other positions were secured by Reg Empey, Ken Maginnis and the Reverend Martyn Smith.
