Unionists have reacted angrily to claims by Mr Gerry Adams that they would be better off in a united Ireland. The Sinn Fein president said unionists could have more power in such a scenario than they do as part of the UK.
Ulster Unionist honorary secretary Ms Arlene Foster said: "Gerry Adams can fantasise about a united Ireland until the cows come home. But the simple reality is the greater number of people in Northern Ireland still - and I believe always will - want to remain within the UK."
A DUP Assembly member, the Rev William McCrea, said: "The notion that being trapped in a permanent minority in a country hostile to many of our civil and religious liberties, rather than living in a modern democratic state, is one which could only be endorsed by the fascist mentality of Sinn Fein.
"The reality that Mr Adams knows and fears is that, not only the Protestant population, but a large section of the Catholic community realise that our best future lies within the UK. The harsh reality is that those who have died for the republican cause could not even persuade their own community of the goal they died for."
Mr Adams was speaking in Derry at a function to commemorate three Provisional IRA members killed by their own bomb 30 years ago.
The DUP Lord Mayor of Belfast, Mr Sammy Wilson, said: "Even Gerry Adams cannot believe that his launch of a charm offensive directed at unionists during a lecture commemorating their killers has any chance of success.
"Gerry Adams might turn on his synthetic smile and trot out his honeyed words but his choice of venue for his insincere appeal acts as a reminder of the true nature of the beast.
"If IRA/Sinn Fein are so fond of unionists and wish to share with them why have they spent the last 30 years killing thousands of them, destroying their properties and maiming them?"
The Ulster Unionist Party's Mr Jim Rodgers said Mr Adams was speaking "republican claptrap". He said the "steady decline" of Protestants in the Republic reaffirmed many unionists' feelings against Irish unity. "Mr Adams must realise the greater number of people in Northern Ireland, including an increasing number of Roman Catholics, want to remain part of the UK despite many of the failings of the government."