Republicans are now facing "crunch time" over the IRA's future, The Ulster Unionist leader Mr David Trimble insisted today.
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Trimble: It is now crunch time for republicans
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Responding to the posing of three questions to the IRA on whether its war was over from the British Prime Minister Mr Blair, the Upper Bann MP warned the IRA that time was running out for clarity on their commitment to exclusively peaceful and democratic means.
"These are the questions that were put. It is obvious what the answers should be," Mr Trimble said. "It is now crunch time for republicans. This time they have got to bite the bullet.
"Just as there is no such thing as a free lunch, there is no such things as free political influence and the bill is now sitting on the republicans' table."
The SDLP leader Mr Mark Durkan said the two governments were right to demand further clarity from the IRA on "basic commitments".
"The credibility of the process can afford no more ambiguity on such fundamental issues" he said.
"The Irish people want to have the clarity that the governments are seeking and they want to have the certainty of the Agreement's implementation that the Joint Declaration can offer. While collective ambiguity has been part of the currency of this process up to now, the public want collective certainty in circulation from here on."