Republican Sinn Fein yesterday accused the British government of sentencing nationalists and unionists to "decades of trouble" by its incorrect analysis of the political situation in Northern Ireland.
A delegation led by the organisation's president, Mr Ruairi O Bradaigh, went to Downing Street to hand in an alternative to the Belfast Agreement, entitled Eire Nua, proposing a four-province federation across Ire land with political representation based on local majorities.
Afterwards, Mr O Bradaigh described the Belfast Agreement as a "recipe for continual conflict". The agreement had "institutionalised sectarianism", heightening the fears of loyalists and the belief among many nationalists and unionists that they had been abandoned by their political representatives.
Urging the Prime Minister, Mr Tony Blair, to "think the unthinkable", Republican Sinn Fein said the British government should immediately announce its intention to leave Northern Ireland.
Mr O Bradaigh was joined at Downing Street by the organisation's vice-president, Ms Geraldine Taylor, and treasurer Mr Joseph O'Neill.