A senior figure on Northern Ireland's Policing Board today pleaded with Ulster Unionist leader Mr David Trimble and other politicians to stop playing politics with law and order issues.
Following the UUP leader's surprise call for justice and policing powers not to be transferred to Stormont in the event of the restoration of devolution, Mr Denis Bradley, the vice chairman of the board, insisted it had to take place.
He told reporters: "David Trimble's call for the powers not to be devolved is in all likelihood tactical.
"However, I think he is going into an area which already has been decided upon and which, in my view, is thoroughly integral to the needs of policing.
"The devolution of policing and justice powers is a marriage which must take place.
"I just wish the political parties would not play with this issue and find other tactics."
The creation of a justice and policing ministry at Stormont is a demand of several of Northern Ireland parties in the current round of negotiations aimed at restoring devolution.
However, in a surprise move on Thursday night, Mr Trimble told Ulster Unionists in Strabane, Co Tyrone, it would be disastrous to hand over policing and justice powers to Northern Ireland politicians in the immediate aftermath of an IRA move to end all paramilitary activity.
While insisting his party was in favour of the principle of devolving the powers from Westminster, he argued the political climate would not be right given the suspicion unionists had of republicans following the collapse of the Assembly in October over allegations of IRA intelligence gathering.
"Against the background of republican wrongdoing, their failure to keep undertakings and their proven duplicity, it is my considered opinion that there would be a fatal collapse of confidence among the unionist electorate if they were told, early in the new year that policing and justice were to be devolved," the former First Minister warned.
Mr Trimble's comments angered nationalists and republicans, with Sinn Féin vice president Mr Pat Doherty accusing him of trying to frustrate progress on the Belfast Agreement and further dilute the Patten recommendations on policing.
Nationalist SDLP Policing Board member Alex Attwood accused Mr Trimble of doing a U-turn on the issue, insisting the devolution of justice and policing powers was "a feature of the Agreement and the full implementation of the Agreement requires this to happen".