Unionist politicians have reacted angrily to Sinn Fein proposals to remove all Union emblems from administrative buildings in Northern Ireland, including Union flags and portraits of Queen Elizabeth.
The proposal is part of Sinn Fein's programme for government, to be launched this week. Other recommendations include making St Patrick's Day a national holiday throughout the island of Ireland; harmonising financial incentives, such as corporation tax; and establishing common entrance requirements to universities on both sides of the Border.
The programme recommends that where unionist emblems, such as the crown and the Red Hand of Ulster, are not removed, the Tricolour and nationalist symbols should be put up alongside them.
But unionists have vowed to fight the proposal "tooth and nail". The dissident Ulster Unionist MP, Mr Jeffrey Donaldson, said Sinn Fein was pursuing a "very narrow agenda of removing the British identity from Northern Ireland".
"Any attempt by Sinn Fein to impose these policies should be resisted by unionists. The Belfast Agreement talks about respecting the constitutional legitimacy of Northern Ireland remaining part of the United Kingdom. If Sinn Fein pursue these policies, they will be undermining a central tenet of the agreement," he added.
DUP MLA Mr Gregory Campbell said his colleagues would fight "tooth and nail, every minute, hour, day, month or year" to prevent the Sinn Fein proposal from being implemented.
It was time for Sinn Fein to "get real", the leader of the Progressive Unionist Party, Mr David Ervine, said.
"If Sinn Fein stayed off the contentious issues and got down to the serious business of governing Northern Ireland, then I'm sure they are as capable as anyone of doing the job. But some of this stuff is sheer, unadulterated nonsense," he added.
Mr Martin McGuinness defended his party's programme, saying it was based on equality.
"If unionists wish to argue that there should be a Union flag above the Stormont Parliament Buildings, then I believe that under the terms of the Good Friday agreement, Irish republicans and nationalists have the right to see the Tricolour. That's what equality is all about," he said in Dublin.