The Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) has called on the Irish Government to clarify comments made by the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, yesterday that the date for the completion of decommissioning might have to be put back. Mr Ken Maginnis, the UUP security spokesman, said his party would require a statement on the matter before it had further discussions with Dublin.
"It's as though Bertie himself was putting his thumbprint on some sort of new pan-nationalism, " he said. "Quite honestly, it will be exceedingly difficult in the light of this statement for unionists to resume where we left off talks with the Taoiseach, unless there is some clarification."
Speaking on RTE's This Week programme yesterday, the Taoiseach conceded that the delay in establishing a Northern executive could lead to demands for an extension of next May's deadline for full decommissioning under the Belfast Agreement.
He said the issue of decommissioning should now be left solely to Gen John de Chastelain and the international body, dealing directly with the paramilitaries, and that it was wrong for others to get involved in the process, "either to legislate for it or to pin it down".
He acknowledged that the delay in establishing the executive had raised doubts about the May 2000 deadline for decommissioning.
"I think that's an issue that's going to arise. It is, in my belief, a view that republicans would have, that if the agreement had moved from where it originally was after the 22nd of May vote of 1998, that they had a period of two years to deal with this issue.
"They would say that because of procrastination, by others and not them, an enormous part of that period has already gone."
He said he remained optimistic however about the prospect of ultimate success, insisting that the atmosphere between the parties was now much better than it had been before the Belfast Agreement.
It was also significant that the Ulster Unionist Party's executive had voted last Friday in favour of the principle of power-sharing.
"We might say that doesn't mean a lot, but it is the first time they've made that decision, and I think we should note its significance . . . That would give me some confidence that David Trimble will take the necessary steps forward."
The Sinn Fein president, Mr Gerry Adams, will meet the Taoiseach in Dublin today, and is expected to press for a time limit and tight focus on the forthcoming review process.
(Additional reporting by PA)