A senior Ulster Unionist, Mr Michael McGimpsey, has said that if the Northern Executive and Assembly are to be restored, republicans must face up to a future without violence where IRA weapons are fully decommissioned.
Mr McGimpsey also said yesterday that Sinn Féin appeared to be preparing its supporters for the party's exclusion from devolved government. He denied republican claims that unionists were blocking a return to devolution.
"The Sinn Féin leadership, desperately trying to mask the fact that they cannot honour their commitment to exclusively peaceful and democratic means as outlined in the Belfast Agreement, are trying to point the finger at unionism as being an obstacle to progress. They are not fooling anyone."
Mr McGimpsey said Sinn Féin's commitment to the Belfast Agreement was in question. "They continue to hold the process to ransom with their obstinate refusal to budge on weapons.
"The recent soundings from their leadership coupled with their panicked objection to sanctions can mean only one thing - they are preparing their supporters for exclusion from any future devolved government."
Mr McGimpsey added: "Sinn Féin can call for elections until the cows come home, but they need to face up to the reality that, if there is to be a return to devolved government, they must overcome their fear of a political future without violence and get their private army to ditch their weapons for good or else face exclusion from government in Northern Ireland.
"That is their challenge, and only they can overcome it. It has been and always will be an inevitable consequence of their signing up to the agreement."
Former SDLP Assembly member Mr Joe Byrne said the time had come for the DUP and anti-agreement members of the UUP to recognise that the people of Ireland had through referendums overwhelmingly endorsed the Belfast Agreement, including the North-South element of the accord.
"The time has come for the two governments to make clear that political progress regarding the North of Ireland cannot be frustrated by the unionist rejectionist forces or the elements of republicanism who ignore the wishes of the Irish people," said Mr Byrne
Meanwhile, the SDLP and Sinn Féin yesterday met Lord Clyde, the justice oversight commissioner responsible for supervising reform of the North's criminal justice system.
A former SDLP Assembly member, Mr Alex Attwood, told the commissioner that he needed to "guard against people in the Northern Ireland Office and elsewhere who would try to frustrate or impede criminal justice change". Mr Attwood said that accelerated change to the criminal justice system required a rigorous scrutiny of the forthcoming second Criminal Justice Bill as well as close monitoring of the reform programme.
