The Democratic Unionist Party has called on the Ulster Unionist leader, Mr David Trimble, to resign with immediate effect following the victory of its candidate, the Rev William McCrea, in Thursday's South Antrim by-election.
The triumvirate of DUP MPs, the Rev Ian Paisley, his deputy, Mr Peter Robinson, and the freshly elected Mr McCrea, claimed the electorate had made it clear it wanted Mr Trimble to go.
"The voters of South Antrim were loud and clear on that last night," Dr Paisley added yesterday. "Mr [David] Burnside, the UUP candidate, himself outlined how his party had failed the unionist electorate. He wrote his own personal obituary notice."
The DUP leader accused the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, of being dismissive of the wishes of the people of Northern Ireland. "He said the vote didn't mean a thing, that the votes of the people of Northern Ireland don't count. But he has forgotten that he is dealing with rock-solid Ulstermen."
Mr McCrea said it was now clear that the UUP in general and Mr Trimble in particular were out of touch with unionist voters on the ground. "I listened very carefully to what Mr Trimble had to say today. The weather was to blame, the SDLP, Sinn Fein, because they made him give all those concessions, Patten, even the people of South Antrim.
"But the one person that came up on the doorstep more often than any of them was Mr Trimble himself. His eyes are blinded to the sin and the deception he has brought on the people of Northern Ireland."
Mr McCrea added that Mr Trimble could "sell his political soul" for the office of First Minister, but he had to be stopped if he started selling traditional unionism. "This election was about more than Willie McCrea or the DUP. It was about the heart and soul of this country.
"I will offer the people of South Antrim constitutional consistency and constituency care. In fair weather or in foul, I will fulfil those pledges," he said.
Mr Robinson said the South Antrim result was not a sign of apathy, as claimed by the UUP, but "a clearly emerging pattern" of a sea-change.
"Unionism is now being led by this political party, the DUP . . . The Ulster Unionist Party is today in tatters and it deserves to be. Even the removal of David Trimble won't save them - the fault-line is there. Half of the UUP believes that Sinn Fein/IRA should be in government even though they haven't given up their weapons. That is a fault-line that cannot be papered over," Mr Robinson said.
He insisted that the DUP would launch a "major offensive" over the next six weeks. The party had its eye on another eight vulnerable seats, one of them being Mr Trimble's constituency of Upper Bann, Mr Robinson concluded.