DUP leader Peter Robinson has said that the old-style unionist majority in Northern Ireland is now a thing of the past.
Mr Robinson said the recent UK census results revealed that the Union between Northern Ireland and the UK was more secure than ever because it has the support of a majority of Catholics as well as a majority of Protestants.
Addressing several hundred delegates at the party's spring conference in Enniskillen, he said the DUP had within its grasp the opportunity to establish a new more broadly-based voter consensus which will guarantee Northern Ireland's position within the UK for generations to come.
Mr Robinson said Sinn Féin was in denial that more Catholics would vote to stay within the UK rather than a united Ireland.
