THE Ulster Unionist Party leader, Mr David Trimble, has claimed the Tanaiste, Mr Spring, had adopted a Sinn Fein agenda in the run up to the elections.
During a canvass yesterday in Donemana, Co Tyrone, Mr Trimble also said the Government would be excluded from the June 10th talks if it insisted talks about decommissioning took place after all party talks.
"We are insisting on the implementation of the Mitchell Report as a whole, which says there must be actual decommissioning alongside the talks. The position of the Irish Government, which on February 28th appeared to be an endorsement of Mitchell, seems to have changed and Mr Spring seems to have adopted a position that there would be no actual decommissioning until the end of talks.
"That is quite an outrageous position to adopt. Mr Spring has, in effect, adopted a Sinn Fein agenda and that is no basis on which to enter into a process of this nature.
"We insist that the Irish Government accept the Mitchell report and, indeed, Sinn Fein will have to accept the Mitchell report, too. So far we have just heard some ambiguous noises from Sinn Fein about this but Sinn Fein will have to accept the Mitchell report and implement it, which means actual decommissioning alongside talks."
Mr Trimble said Sinn Fein could participate in next month's negotiations if an IRA ceasefire was called. "Then they will be asked to make a total and absolute commitment to Mitchell. We shall then talk about these matters to ensure that Mitchell will, in fact, be implemented during the talks. If sufficient commitments are given, then we move on to the next item on the agenda."