The Church of Ireland Gazette has described Mr Jeffrey Donaldson of the Ulster Unionist Party as "a dangerous alternative" to Northern Ireland First Minister Mr David Trimble.
Its editorial also accused the Taoiseach and the Minister for Foreign Affairs of recently sounding "almost like spokesmen for Sinn Fein". It said: "Leading members of Jeffrey Donaldson's cabal within the Unionist Party, some of them considerably older stagers than he is, have no heart for powersharing of any sort. One or two would actually wish to prevent it. To them, fouling up the system is a desirable objective, whatever the precise means employed. "To them, for perfectly comprehensible historical reasons, the concept of sharing government with Sinn Fein is unacceptable, whether the IRA is disarmed or not. But the expressed will of the people still is that the powersharing system be made to function."
It said the issue of illegal arms must be addressed. Neither government "has shown adequate determination in confronting the challenge of the illegal armies which continue to flourish in its midst".