UNIONIST politicians reacted with anger to the Canary Wharf bombing, and the IRA statement that its ceasefire was ended.
Mr David Trimble, the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) leader, said that if the IRA was behind the bombing, it was clearly an act designed to prevent elections in Northern Ireland.
It was incredible that people who for the past 18 months were saying they wanted to enter the democratic process should be resorting to violence to stop democratic elections, he added.
Mr Trimble, speaking before flying out to the United States last night, said people should be reserved in their comments until there was more reliable information from RUC and military intelligence.
The DUP leader, the Rev Ian Paisley, said the message must now go out that there could be no dealing with organisations which held on to, and used, bombs and guns. He believed that the statement genuinely came from the IRA.
"No man can be trusted until he brings forth the fruits of repentance," he said. The security authorities in Northern Ireland had, been fooled by the IRA, although he believed that the security chiefs in Britain were aware that the ceasefire could end.
The Alliance Party leader, Dr John Alderdice, said the bombing and statement were profoundly depressing. The republican movement must decide whether to condemn or condone the bombing. To condone it would set Sinn Fein "outside the pale of democracy again".
He continued "This is a time for cool heads, for assessing the situation, and hopefully we will find that this is something that can be taken under control and dealt with quickly."
Mr Ken Maginnis, the Ulster Unionist Party spokesman on security, said that he had spent 18 months hoping against hope that he would be wrong when he predicted that the IRA ceasefire was nothing but an attempt by the IRA and Sinn Fein to create a tactical political advantage for Sinn Fein.
He said that for some months Sinn Fein had been distancing itself from the IRA so that it could state it regretted such incidents as happened at Canary Wharf last night, but that it understood why such a bombing should happen.
Mr Peter Robinson, the DUP deputy leader, said the IRA was not interested in peace.
Rather than accepting that unionists' reluctance to engage in all party talks contributed to the bombing, Mr Robinson said that the refusal of "sensible unionists" to engage with Sinn Fein had been justified.
"It has shown very clearly that you cannot deal with these people, and they are still terrorists. Until they turn their back on terrorism, until they do decommission their arms, until their organisation has been stood down, then I believe unionists will be more justified than ever in saying there can be only one route that brings Sinn Fein into the same room as unionists, and that is through an elected process," he added.
The message must also go out to the loyalist paramilitary organisations that they should not reply with a "kneejerk reaction" to the IRA. "They should hold their ceasefire," he said.
The Rev William McCrea, the DUP security spokesman, said that once again "IRA vermin" were threatening British citizens. "Every citizen must withstand the onslaught of republicanism. "The government must permit the security forces to forcibly crush the rebellion in our midst," he added.
