Confusion over the position of the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Andrews, on Articles 2 and 3 of the Constitution prompted the Ulster Unionist Party to walk out of the Strand Two talks at Stormont.
Mr John Taylor, deputy leader of the UUP, led the party's team out of the negotiating room at Stormont yesterday because it interpreted comments from Mr Andrews as meaning the Irish Government would not consider any changes to the Articles until after an agreed settlement.
The UUP said it was withdrawing from the negotiations for a period of "reflection". But later in the evening, following mediation work by Irish officials and a statement from Mr Andrews, the UUP appeared to be mollified.
Mr Ken Maginnis, the party's security spokesman, indicated that the UUP will return to the Strand Two talks, dealing with North-South relations, when they resume next week. But he accused Mr Andrews of having a "macho, aggressive attitude" in the discussions.
The difficulty arose yesterday morning during the opening session of the talks, when the UUP team construed Mr Andrews's comments on the territorial claim as meaning that the Irish Government delegation would not discuss changes to Articles 2 and 3 until after a settlement.
The UUP leader, Mr David Trimble, who was not at the session, said that Mr Andrews had created doubt about the Government's position on the territorial claim. "My colleagues heard a clearly negative attitude being argued by David Andrews. He was not going to have any tinkering with it, and that nothing would be done until all the Irish demands had been satisfied in a final settlement."
Mr Trimble said the UUP wanted a written statement from the Government, outlining its position on discussions about Articles 2 and 3.
During the afternoon, Irish officials held bilateral talks with the UUP, stating that the Government's position had been misinterpreted, and that Articles 2 and 3 were up for discussion during the substantive negotiations.
Mr Andrews also issued a statement, saying that the Government would "discuss proposals for change in the Irish Constitution as part both of balanced constitutional change and of an overall agreement". He said he had been misunderstood.
He indicated, however, that while conscious of unionist concerns about the territorial claim in Articles 2 and 3, he was not prepared to reveal the Irish Government's final negotiating position at this stage.
"The Irish Government is deeply aware of the sincerely-held views of the unionist community on Articles 2 and 3, and we are listening carefully to what is being said here by their delegation about these Articles. But unionist concerns are mirrored by the deep significance of these Articles for the identity of the nationalist community," said Mr Andrews.
"If we are to reach an honourable agreement, both of these realities must be addressed together or, as Seamus Mallon has put it, what is needed are arrangements to ensure equality of allegiance."
Mr Maginnis said that Mr Andrews had moved some considerable distance from his original position which was "fairly macho and quite dismissive" of unionist views. He said that unionists were concerned that Dublin would refuse - based on their experience from the 1991-92 talks when the then government said changes to the Articles "could" rather than "would" be considered - to discuss properly the territorial claim.
"We simply demonstrated to Mr Andrews that we were not prepared to have him come up and act the macho man, and think that we will all bend the knee to him," said Mr Maginnis. He was satisfied that Mr Andrews had dealt with "the immediate issue and overcome his petulance".
The SDLP and Sinn Fein accused the UUP of "play-acting" over the issue. Mr Ian Paisley Jnr, of the DUP, said UUP politicians must make up their minds.
"The UUP must stop playing political hokey-cokey and decide if they are going to remain isolated in a process that is going the Dublin way, or if they are prepared to join with the growing number of united unionists in opposition to a process that is weakening the Union," he said.
