Republicans are living in a fantasy world and the evidence for it lies in Wednesday's IRA statement, Mr David Trimble said yesterday.
The Ulster Unionist leader dismissed the latest statement in the current issue of An Phoblacht, signed by P. O'Neill, which laid the blame for the current political impasse at the door of the British prime minister, the military and security agencies, and loyalists.
Mr Trimble said it was the IRA that was genuinely anti-agreement.
"This statement is the work of people living in an unreal world," he said at Stormont. Their underlying problem is their unwillingness to change. Responsibility for this crisis rests squarely on their shoulders. It was their recklessness that precipitated all of this, and it is up to them to sort it out."
However, the Sinn Féin president, Mr Gerry Adams, said he would bend his will to make sure of a successful end to the current problems and called on others to do the same.
Speaking in Downing Street following his postponed meeting with Mr Tony Blair yesterday, he hinted that much more hard talking had to come. But he insisted that republicans viewed the British government's implementation - or lack of it - of the agreement, and the state of unionism, as problems which had to be addressed.
The comments from Mr Trimble and Mr Adams illustrate how fundamental their differences are on the nature of the current problem. They come amid republican hints of some form of movement from the IRA within the next few weeks and Sinn Féin insistence that "acts of completion" are needed on all sides. It seems clear that republicans will not act in isolation to revive the political process.
Sinn Féin continues to be troubled by what Mr Adams calls the lack of "a full implementation plan on the table at this time" from the British government, the current attitude of unionists and "the absence of any pro-agreement axis within unionism engaged at this time in the process collectively with the rest of us".
Mr Adams said he remains sceptical at British willingness to call elections to the Assembly due in May.
"I think it would be an indictment of this government, and of the attempts to put together a political process, if the elections were postponed," he said. "It would reduce all our efforts to 'ad-hocery'."
The SDLP leader, Mr Mark Durkan, said there was little in the IRA statement to get upset about and urged that all parties get on with sorting out political problems. He expected the P. O'Neill statement was not the IRA's final word on the impasse.
"I don't think there is anything to get worked up about either one way or the other about the IRA's statement," he said. "There really isn't anything there for Unionists to fume about and there isn't anything else for any of the rest of us to fume about either.
"We have heard exactly that type of shrill statement from the IRA before, not least in these kinds of circumstances."
It is expected that the parties will be invited to round-table talks the week after next, but it could be a lower-key event than was suggested when the Northern Secretary and the Minister for Foreign Affairs last met just before Christmas. Following Mr David Trimble's non-attendance at previous multi-party discussions, and his walkout at the pre-Christmas talks, the next round-table session could be a nationalist-only affair. It is also possible the talks will be hosted by junior ministers under the banner of the pro-agreement Implementation Group which met sporadically last year.