THE Alliance Party leader, Lord Alderdice, yesterday made a sharp attack on the Ulster Unionist Party leader, Mr David Trimble, accusing him of blocking political progress.
With the multi party talks bogged down, the parties are increasingly turning their attention to the forthcoming British general election.
Lord Alderdice, speaking at an Alliance meeting in Banbridge, Co Down, said: "Anyone who votes for Ian Paisley knows they are voting against talks and political agreement. Anyone who voted for David Trimble and thought they were supporting a leader who would move politics forward in Northern Ireland must be deeply disappointed. The Vanguard man of the 1970s has not changed.
"At the talks, rather than standing up to Paisley and McCartney with courage, Mr Trimble has buckled and bent. Consistently over the last eight months, each time we approached agreements he has changed his position and blocked progress.
"In Europe, he has switched his party's allegiance to an eccentric and egotistic millionaire, losing all useful influence on agriculture, Northern Ireland's largest industry facing a crucial time.
The West Belfast SDLP MP, Dr Joe Hendron, said the IRA leadership was out of touch with the nationalist population.
"I say to the Provos get off the backs of the people. With each and every attack you make you bring about a saturation of the community by security forces, which results in countless house raids and the harassment of our young people."
Sinn Fein's national chairman, Mr Mitchel McLaughlin, accused British ministers of making contradictory statements. He said the past two days had served only to highlight the double standards being practised by the British government and the Ulster Unionists.
Meanwhile, the Sinn Fein publicity co ordinator, Mr Jim Gibney, complained of having been detained for over an hour at a checkpoint on the main Newry Belfast road on Tuesday night.