Unionists of all parties have been urged to rally under a banner of unity ahead of Assembly elections scheduled for May 1st.
However, the initiative, promoted by leading Ulster Unionist sceptics, has hit early problems, with renewed attacks on Mr David Trimble by the DUP over the Belfast Agreement and further evidence of unionist splits.
The latest unity initiative, a series of six guidance points called the Stormont Principles, is backed by the anti-agreement MP Mr Jeffrey Donaldson, the South Antrim MP Mr David Burnside, and by Mr Trimble's predecessor as leader, Lord Molyneaux.
The launch of the principles, pushed by a London umbrella unionist organisation Friends of the Union, some church figures and a former senior RUC officer, lays down general points on which all unionists could agree. These include a demand for the disbandment of all paramilitary organisations, the right of Northern Ireland to self-determination without outside pressure, the involvement of parties without paramilitary links in the political process and promotion of the Union.
However there was little public support for the initiative. The DUP, which views the initiative as an effort to bolster UUP poll ratings, stayed away from the event organised to publicise the principles and no leader turned up. Only three Ulster Unionist Assembly members appeared, and another unionist turned up to express dissent.
Mr Donaldson said yesterday he could not answer for unionist representatives, and he stressed there was a yearning among the unionist electorate for an end to "bickering" and "feuding".
Mr David Burnside said he was "100 per cent behind" the launch of the Stormont Principles. "This is an attempt to re-establish a clear bottom line in unionism, having seen what has gone on over the past five years since the signing of the Belfast Agreement."
However, the DUP's Mr Ian Paisley jnr said he regarded the Stormont Principles with a "heavy degree of cynicism".
"We in the DUP are all for unionists coming together. However I can't help asking why is it that we always hear these calls before an election which is going to be difficult for the Ulster Unionist Party?"
Last night the DUP returned to its criticism of Mr Trimble. Mr Peter Robinson, the DUP deputy leader, said the UUP and its leader were habitual deceivers of the unionist electorate.
In a statement last night, he said: "No one can forget the famous 'No guns, no government' phrase which Mr Trimble used in an attempt to boost the electorate's confidence before the European election in 1999. This was swiftly dumped by Mr Trimble after the election, and no one should be under any impression that the current hardening of the Ulster Unionist stance is anything other than another stop-gap measure to get them past the next election.
"The electorate will not forget who the architects of the Belfast Agreement are, and no amount of back-pedalling now can change that."