Anti-agreement unionists have called on Mr George Mitchell to resign as facilitator of the review of the implementation of the Belfast Agreement.
Mr Cedric Wilson of the Northern Ireland Unionist Party made the demand as the former US senator began a day of intensive consultations with the smaller political parties before adjourning the process until next Monday.
According to Mr Wilson, Mr Mitchell cannot fulfil the requirement of an independent chairman for the review because of his chairmanship of the negotiations leading to its signing.
If Mr Mitchell was "a man of honour" he would pack his bags, Mr Wilson said. His chairmanship was "a nonsense, akin to asking a judge to retry a case he has already presided over and reached a decision that is highly controversial and rejected by a large number of people". Mr Wilson said his party intended to boycott the review. He said the Belfast Agreement should now collapse because it was corrupt right through. First to meet Mr Mitchell yesterday was the Alliance Party leader, Mr Sean Neeson, who said he was concerned by what he regarded as the continued arrogance of the Ulster Unionist and Sinn Fein leaderships.
The Alliance deputy leader, Mr Seamus Close, said the two parties must decide if they were "pro-agreement" or "pro-themselves". The ingredients for a successful outcome to the review should be contained in April's Hillsborough Declaration, which was acceptable to the UUP, and the Way Forward document in June, which Sinn Fein accepted. Mr Billy Hutchinson, of the Progressive Unionist Party (PUP) said some progress must emerge from the process, no matter how limited. He warned against leaving the agreement on the dusty shelf.
"In terms of the atmosphere, and with Patten coming, there are lots of problems, so we don't think that we are going to get more than incremental steps. But what we are saying is that incremental steps are better than the process collapsing altogether," he said.
He added that there was no alternative other than to sort out the unresolved issues. "If people think they can walk away from this process and come back in two weeks, two years, or two decades, the problems will still be the same. None of that will have gone away, and I think people had better deal with that reality now."
Mr Hutchinson also warned parties against trying to collapse the process. "If anybody goes in there to destroy this then they are not doing this society or our communities any good."
Ms Monica McWilliams of the Women's Coalition asked whether a "reality check" like East Timor or Kosovo was necessary in Northern Ireland before people realised that the Belfast Agreement was "as good as it gets". "Those of us who support this process are sometimes made to feel foolish and those who are out to wreck it are seen as the realists. That's got to stop." The politicians were disillusioned and demoralised like the people, she added.
Ms McWilliams said the problems that existed now in the implementation of the agreement would always be hurdles until they were overcome.
"We will have to crack them, if not today, then some day in the future. Maybe the next generation will have another go at it." Meanwhile, the Workers' Party travelled to Castle Buildings yesterday to urge the signatories of the agreement to have the courage to put aside their differences and reach consensus. "The clear message that must go to unionists and nationalists is simple: it's time to deliver, " said the party president, Mr Tom French.