The UK Unionist Party decided at the weekend to give its former president, Dr Conor Cruise O'Brien, honorary life membership.
The unscheduled motion, which was unanimously endorsed, followed an address by Dr O'Brien at the party's annual conference.
To loud applause and a standing ovation from delegates, Dr O'Brien said he was "deeply moved" by the honour.
Earlier he told delegates he believed that attitudes in the Republic towards Northern Ireland and unionism were changing to more positive ones.
The reduction in murder charges for the men charged with the murder of Garda Jerry McCabe horrified many and focused opinion on Northern Ireland.
The shift in position was evident from recent editorials and articles in The Irish Times, "for so long a so-called pillar of the peace process", and the Irish Independent, "a fairly typical nationalist organ", which expressed abhorrence at the reduction in charges and intimidation of key witnesses.
However, he warned that despite criticism over the case and the ensuing claims from leading republicans that the men should qualify for early release under terms of the Belfast Agreement, real dangers still presented themselves to unionists.
"The great danger is that the British government and the Irish Government may still go ahead and seat Sinn Fein/IRA in the executive, and after that the British government will proceed to dismantle, humiliate and castrate the RUC," said Dr O'Brien.