Anti-agreement unionists are trying to attract the support of extremists in Northern Ireland and do not truly believe the Belfast Agreement signals an end to the Union, according to an Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) Assembly member.
Mr Duncan Shipley Dalton claimed yesterday that parties in the Assembly opposed to the agreement were not working to prevent its implementation and were merely "going through the motions".
"They should actually put their money where their mouth is and start working to prevent the implementation of the agreement. Clearly, they are not doing that. I would suggest that they know as well as I do that the agreement is not going to lead inevitably to the destruction of the Union," said the Assembly member for South Antrim.
"All they are doing is simply going through the motions, pretending that they oppose the agreement in order to curry favour with those people out there who would rather be sectarian or bigoted in their views rather than make a positive contribution to the future of Northern Ireland."
Responding to the comments, Mr Ian Paisley jnr, of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), said Mr Shipley Dalton had "a cheek" to say his party was doing nothing to oppose the agreement.
"But, at the end of the day, it's the confusion between the pro-agreement parties as to what they've actually said Yes to in the first place that is causing the problem and will ultimately wreck the agreement."
Mr Paisley denied the DUP was trying to attract the support of extreme loyalist elements with its stance on the agreement. "Clearly, all the extremists backed the Belfast Agreement. The UVF and Sinn Fein/IRA all gave their support. It's a case of Mr Shipley calling the kettle black."
Meanwhile, addressing the issue of IRA decommissioning yesterday, the Labour Party leader, Mr Ruairi Quinn, has urged the republican movement to make an arms gesture as a sign of strength.
"While it is true to say that no other generation of republicans decommissioned, I believe that the opportunity for this generation to recast the politics of the whole island is unprecedented and that in itself throws down new challenges. Decommissioning is not surrender but exactly the opposite, a sign of strength from republicans."
Mr Quinn said the decision to withdraw troops from Crossmaglen GAA Club in south Armagh was a further indication that politics could be normalised in Northern Ireland.
Earlier, the Sinn Fein Assembly member Mr Gerry Kelly claimed the RUC was using death threats as a way of intimidating republicans and their families. He said yesterday that over the Easter weekend police visited 12 homes in north Belfast and informed the occupants that their lives were under threat. Officers refused to indicate the nature or source of the threat.
"Some individuals believe that the RUC are utilising the present political uncertainty and increased level of loyalist attacks as an opportunity to intimidate republicans and their families."
An RUC spokeswoman said where a threat had been made to an individual, officers had an obligation to inform the individual.