British Prime Minister Tony Blair said today he hoped a way could be found to give Ulster Unionists the reassurance they need about the IRA's latest act ofdecommissioning.
Asked during his monthly press conference in Downing Street about the stalling of the latest peace initiative, Mr Blair said he understood why UUP leader Mr David Trimble was seeking more details about the scale and scope of the event.
"They (Ulster Unionists) need to know that from now on there is going to be acessation of all paramilitary activity, that is what they need to know and it isentirely reasonable.
"They want to know details of this decommissioning act and I think it is understandable why they want that confidence and I hope we can give it tothem."
The Irish and British governments continued efforts today to resolve the row over "transparency" in the IRA's third act of decommissioning, as demanded by Mr Trimble.
The Taoiseach and Mr Blair are looking at possible ways of publishing details of Tuesday's putting beyond use of a substantial and significant cache of IRA weapons and explosives.