As the Ulster Unionist Party continued its consultations prior to the resumption of the Stormont talks next week, the party's chief whip, the Rev Martin Smyth MP, said that "proximity talks" rather than face-to-face negotiations with Sinn Fein were the way forward. He called on the republican movement to decommission "weapons of offence" such as Semtex and ground-to-air missiles. "There has got to be some real deeds on the part of Sinn Fein/IRA, in the knowledge that they do control the arms. Even the recent find in the Republic, along with the figures that the Garda published, showed that there is a place for proper deeds.
"I have never gone out of my way to say all weapons have to be there before we talk, because I think that's unrealistic, but I believe if people are going down the road of peace they do not need Semtex, they certainly do not need ground-to-air missiles.
"Those are weapons of offence, and it would be an act of real belief and trust if they brought them forward now."
He said it had been the position of the UUP that there should be evidence of a real commitment to peace and not a holding-back of weapons so that if the republicans did not get the consent of the people they would be back in business. "I'm saying that, in that situation, until there is evidence of movement, that proximity talks is the way forward."
Mr Smyth told Radio Ulster's Talkback programme: "If we're going to convince governments, we have got to at least speak to them, and that's what proximity talks are. In other words, we're speaking to the governments, we're speaking to other political parties, seeking to move forward in a proper way."
In a statement on the issue of consent, the Sinn Fein chairman, Mr Mitchel McLaughlin, said it was "an important matter in the search for agreement and it must be applied to all the people of Ireland".
The forthcoming negotiations would be about finding agreement, Mr McLaughlin said. "What we have is an unsatisfactory situation. The status quo is not an option. Sinn Fein's view is that future political arrangements in Ireland are a matter for all the people of Ireland to decide, not a fraction of them.
"There has to be constitutional and political change, the other side of the negotiations, and no party can have a veto over the outcome of those negotiations."
The Ulster Unionist MP for West Tyrone, Mr William Thompson, has diverged from party practice by writing a letter to a leading Sinn Fein member in his constituency on the issue of the Stormont talks.
Mr Thompson told Mr Barry McElduff, a member of the Sinn Fein talks team, that he took the view that the UUP should not enter into talks which included Sinn Fein until the issue of decommissioning was resolved and the principle of consent was clearly accepted by all.
Mr Thompson's stance was criticised by the SDLP chairman of Omagh District Council, Mr Joe Byrne, who said: "I am very disappointed in Mr Thompson's recent comments that he would not support inclusive negotiations. These comments are clearly at odds with the views of most people in his constituency.
"It smacks of double standards that he is unable to support his party taking their seats around the peace talks table when in 1985 and 1987 he was happy to serve and participate fully on Omagh District Council when Sinn Fein held the chair."
Mr Thompson was not available for comment.