The nomination of Sinn Fein's chief negotiator, Mr Martin McGuinness, to one of his party's ministerial positions in a power-sharing executive in the North has met a mixed response from unionist politicians.
The Democratic Unionist Party described the move as "a calculated insult" to unionism, and the Ulster Unionist MP, Mr Jeffrey Donaldson, who is opposed to the Belfast Agreement, yesterday described the nomination as "deeply insulting".
However, a senior Ulster Unionist, Mr Dermot Nesbitt, held a benign view on the nomination and said he wished to see progress in the political process so an all-embracing administration could be formed with unionists and republicans in government.
"There are key steps that need to be taken over the next few weeks, but I believe that all parties are wedded to a working government in Northern Ireland operating in a peaceful, stable and enduring environment, not a transitional environment."
Mr McGuinness was nominated at the party's ard-fheis on Saturday to take one of the two cabinet seats allocated to Sinn Fein. The second nomination was given to the party's spokeswoman on policing and justice, Ms Bairbre de Bruin. They are the first nominations to be made by any party in the assembly.
Mr Nigel Dodds, of the DUP, said the nomination was the most offensive gesture Sinn Fein could have made. "I would be interested to know, with the current push for public inquiries, if Sinn Fein and others would call for an inquiry if a minister in the British government was known to have links with para-militaries."
Mr Donaldson said the prospect of someone reputed to have presided over some of the worst periods of paramilitary violence becoming a minister highlighted the need for the full decommissioning of IRA weaponry.
"It is deeply insulting that this man could become a minister in the government of Northern Ireland; indeed, possibly a minister in charge of the education of our children," he added.
The leader of the UK Unionist Party, Mr Robert McCartney, said Sinn Fein's choice of Mr McGuinness represented "a quite deliberate incitement" to unionists.