The British Prime Minister, Mr Tony Blair, warned Sinn Fein yesterday that the Belfast Agreement was not just a question of decommissioning and that it must accept the agreement as "a whole package" if it wants to serve in the future government of the North.
While the Ulster Unionist leader, Mr David Trimble, denounced the IRA's statement that it would not decommission its weapons, Mr Blair played down its significance. But he made it clear that anybody serving in a new Assembly must give up violence "for good".
Downing Street is also working on the basis that the IRA has not rejected the agreement and it is looking to Sinn Fein's Ardfheis in Dublin on May 10th for the republican movement's definitive response to the deal. A spokesman said that if Sinn Fein endorsed the agreement the British government would "obviously" expect the party to use its influence to ensure decommissioning took place over a period of two years.
However, Mr Trimble said the British government must now make it clear to republicans that unless they accepted the agreement in full they would not enjoy its benefits. After an early morning Cabinet meeting, the Northern Ireland Secretary, Dr Mo Mowlam, emerged to tell republicans that they could not "pick and choose" which parts of the agreement they would accept and which parts they would reject.
She pointed out that while every party had "difficulties" with the agreement "in the end they have to make an overall judgment. If these arrangements are going to work, then everyone involved will have to give up violence for good and decommissioning is an essential part of the package."
Dr Mowlam also said the language of the IRA's statement was "mixed" and that it was "too early to judge" whether the proposed early release of IRA prisoners could still go ahead.
The shadow Northern Ireland secretary, Mr Andrew MacKay, said his party assumed that no IRA prisoner would be eligible for early release under the terms of the agreement and that Sinn Fein members elected to a new Assembly would not be allowed to take up ministerial positions.
The Northern Ireland Minister, Mr Paul Murphy, said that according to the rules of the Assembly any party or individual associated with violence would be removed from office and that the government would support changes to the rules if they proved to be ineffective. However, the DUP spokesman, Mr Ian Paisley Jnr, described the IRA's statement as a "two-fingered salute to the entire people of Northern Ireland".
The Tory leader, Mr William Hague, said the IRA reaction to the peace accord was a "very worrying statement".
The former British prime minister, Mr John Major, will visit Belfast next Wednesday to publicly endorse the Belfast Agreement, it emerged last night.
The visit has long been expected after Mr Major told the Prime Minister, Mr Tony Blair, that he was prepared to do all he could in the push for a Yes vote.