The IRA's decommissioning of weapons this week in front of General John De Chastelain was 'a significant event', rebel Ulster Unionist MP, Mr David Burnside declared yesterday.
The surprisingly welcoming remarks from Mr Burnside came after the Ulster Unionist Leader, Mr David Trimble briefed UUP Assembly election candidates, Westminster MPs and MEP, Mr Jim Nicholson.
Mr Burnside, who has been a thorn in the side of Mr Trimble and is currently without the party whip, said: "Obviously it was a substantial act of decommissioning. There is no doubt about that.
"We should recognise that. It is progress and it is movement in the right direction. (But) I want to know when is the end of decommissioning, when will activities like Colombia, Castlereagh and Florida come to an end," he told journalists.
Despite the controversies that have erupted since Tuesday's Hillsborough gathering, the Ulster Unionists insisted that they were ready to fight the Assembly elections due to take place in late November.
However, Mr Trimble deliberately dampened expectations that a resolution to the latest crisis can be found quickly. "There doesn't appear to be (one). Whether that will still happen I don't know. It rests with other people.
"They have still the opportunity of making good the mistake that was made by preventing De Chastelain and giving the inventory and putting in place the timescale (for the decommissioning of the rest of the IRA's arsenal).
"I am not that optimistic, but the opportunity is still there," said Mr Trimble, who has scheduled a meeting of the Ulster Unionist Executive Council to take place in Belfast next Wednesday.
The UUP will tell voters, he said, that it would not rejoin an Executive after the election unless the IRA gives more information: "As things stand, I cannot recommend that my party returns to government," he said.