The DUP has given its clearest indication yet that it can "do business" with Sinn Féin after May's Assembly elections, subject to conditions.
The party's Derry Assembly member, Mr William Hay, said yesterday: "I think first of all we need to have a clear message from paramilitaries that their war is over and especially from the republican movement that there is a clear timetable of dismantling the IRA."
He added: "Now if we can get those clear guarantees from the republican movement, we as a party would then sit down and do business with them like any other constitutional party, because we feel the threat from violence is over."
His remarks are strongly at odds with those made by his party leader, the Rev Ian Paisley, when the Assembly was suspended in October.
At the time he said: "There will be no negotiations with Sinn Féin. Full stop. Period." Dr Paisley's spokesman said last night that Mr Hay's comments did not represent official party policy.
The comments, whether representative of DUP thinking or not, indicate that many in the party are thinking ahead to a situation after the Assembly elections, when both DUP and Sinn Féin representation at Stormont will be increased.
Sinn Féin welcomed the remarks yesterday. Mr Mitchel McLaughlin, a Derry Assembly member, said: "At the beginning of this process, going back over five years, Sinn Féin said we are committed to taking all of the guns out of circulation. Now if that has been set for us as the litmus test by all of the participants, then we have to say, work with us."
He warned: "You cannot ignore the impact on our constituency of unionists who have played Ally Bally with the political process. One day they are in, the next they are threatening to pull it down, the next day they are running about with letters of resignation and the next day they are tabling motions to exclude us from the process."
Anti-agreement unionists criticised Mr Hay. The Northern Ireland Unionist Party said the DUP had fallen for the trappings of office "and have no intention of of opposing Sinn Féin in government or bringing down the institutions".
Mr Michael McGimpsey, a former UUP minister in the Executive, called on the DUP to clarify its position, saying: "This is an interesting development, but we need clarification from the DUP leadership, mainly Dr Paisley and Mr Robinson, on what this actually means."
The SDLP leader, Mr Mark Durkan, said the DUP was not interested in doing business with anyone.