Ulster Unionist leader Mr David Trimble said today his high risk threat to quit as the North's First Minister will pay off.
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Mr David Trimble
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Mr Trimble dismissed suggestions he will be forced to resign on July 1st if the IRA does not begin decommissioning its weapons.
"You can endlessly discuss all the various possibilities," he said.
"I am confident we are going to succeed on this just as I have been confident with the (Belfast) Agreement the whole way through.
"What I can't say is exactly how or when we get these matters sorted but I am sure that we will get them sorted."
Speaking in Craigavon, Co Armagh, Mr Trimble insisted he had delivered enough warnings which have gone unheeded, thus forcing him to adopt a harder approach.
Despite intense speculation his party will suffer severe electoral losses in the forthcoming general election, he claimed that the UUP will confound the critics.
He said: "I'm quite confident and I have been ever since I saw a private opinion poll weeks ago that we are going to return to Westminster with nine or 10 seats. I very much hope it's at the higher end of that."
PA