A leading Ulster Unionist MP has urged caution in the run-up to the party executive's meeting on whether it will re-enter the North's power-sharing government with Sinn FΘin on Saturday.
The "lack of detail" on how the decommissioning of IRA weapons had actually been carried out was a source of distrust and suspicion among party members, the MP for South Belfast, the Rev Martin Smyth, warned.
"As a party which relies upon the support of the unionist community, it is vital that any move by Ulster Unionists is only made against a backdrop of unionist confidence. However, the current secrecy and lack of detail will encourage only distrust, not confidence, and may not enhance the position of the UUP within unionism."
The Rev Mr Smyth said there was an "understandable suspicion" that the IRA's move was nothing but a "tactical response to reduce American pressure in the light of September 11th and to strengthen Sinn FΘin in a forthcoming Irish general election".
"The Ulster Unionist Party cannot afford to gamble for a third time and enter the Executive on an unsound basis only later to find republicanism has hoodwinked us once again.
"The clarity and certainty we had always sought is more important now than ever before and must not just be given to a few individuals but the \860-strong Ulster Unionist Council, the party and the unionist electorate as a whole."
On behalf of that electorate, there was a range of questions to be asked, Mr Smyth insisted. They included exactly how and in what quantity IRA weapons were put beyond use and what time-scale was envisaged for decommissioning to be completed.
Was the war over and had racketeering, punishment attacks and the procurement of arms ceased? However, another UUP MLA previously critical of Mr Trimble's line, Mr Danny Kennedy, said he would endorse the party leader's recommendation to re-enter the Executive with Sinn FΘin.
"I think we have achieved the surrender of the IRA. We have extracted from them the admission that their war was unjust and that it is over. We have achieved this by applying pressure on republicans and if it turns out to be a one-off gesture rather than a process then we will apply the same pressure again," he added.
"It had better not be another stunt by republicans. At this stage, however, I feel that we have achieved what we wanted to achieve and I will go along with the leadership's recommendation."
Asked about Mr Trimble's re-election as First Minister next week, Mr Kennedy said the UUP leader was facing a much more difficult task in rallying the support of all his party's MLAs. "We will cross that bridge when we come to it but without doubt that will be a much harder nut to crack."
One of Mr Trimble's closest supporters and the only UUP minister to have stayed in his post last week, Mr Dermot Nesbitt, said he did not want to pre-judge the party executive's decision but was hopeful that Mr Trimble's recommendation would be "overwhelmingly endorsed".
"I hope executive members will reflect carefully on the choices before them and will recognise that there is a unique opportunity to move forward here. I trust that good faith will prevail and an endorsement will be forthcoming.
"Politics is the art of the possible and there are never any simple choices, but I feel the republican movement has made a significant move and I agree with statements made by their leadership today that matters should now be left in the hands of Gen de Chastelain's decommissioning body," Mr Nesbitt concluded.
The South Antrim MLA, Mr Duncan Shipley Dalton, called on executive members not to squander the potential created by the IRA's action.
The Grand Orange Lodge of Ireland has "welcomed the fact that the long-overdue decommissioning of terrorist weapons has begun".
In a statement, the lodge said it was vital that the IRA decision was not a one-off event but was part of a speedy programme to put all terrorist weapons beyond use together with the dismantling of terrorist organisations. "We do not want token decommissioning but total decommissioning," it said.