The spying operation uncovered by the Police Service of Northern Ireland at Stormont and Castlereagh goes right to the heart of the republican leadership, and that means the heart of the IRA, the Ulster Unionist Leader, Mr David Trimble, said yesterday.
Speaking in Dublin, Mr Trimble said that he had been told by the Chief Constable, Mr Hugh Orde, that the documents were "absolutely littered with fingerprints".
Asked if he believed that the fingerprints of Mr Gerry Adams or Mr Martin McGuinness had turned up on seized documents, Mr Trimble said he was not in a position "to believe or disbelieve".
He said he thought it was worth drawing attention to what the acting Deputy Chief Constable, Mr Alan McQuillan, said on Monday, that the conspiracy went to the very heart of the republican movement.
"We know that the political and paramilitary elements of that movement are intertwined with that leadership, and we know that some of the espionage was done for political reasons. Now there are some obvious deductions which you have come to," Mr Trimble said.
Mr Orde had said that some of material seized related to a number of meetings he had had with colleagues and with the Northern Secretary of State.
Mr Trimble said that the incidents could not be described as leaks.
"We are talking about theft, organised criminal conspiracy and access to government offices for the purposes of stealing documents.
"That is a different matter from leaks. We know they occur from time to time, but this is of a different order," he insisted.
It was clear to him following his meeting with the Chief Constable that the inquiry had a long way to go.
"We are actually in the early stages of this inquiry, so there may be an awful lot more to come out and we may find that this will go," he said.
The spying incidents had drawn attention yet again to the "ambiguity" of the terms and objectives of the republican movement.
"I hope ourselves, the government in the UK and the other parties in the process will all use this as an opportunity of putting pressure on the republicans to get rid of ambiguity," he said.
Mr Trimble said his party had been in a situation where they had trusted republicans three times on the basis of assurances and promises.
"We have given them the chance three times, and three times they have let us down. It is bound to have a huge impact," he added.
The UUP leader said the question had to be asked: when does a secret army cease to act?
"How can you tell? With a legal institution we can establish its existence, and if a legal institution decides to cease operation you can see that. But with a secret institution how do you know?" Mr Trimble asked.
The spying discovery was going to reinforce the scepticism that existed in the public mind as to the intentions of the republican movement.