The Northern Secretary, Mr Peter Mandelson, has appealed for "cool heads" and patience. In a statement last night he urged people to wait and see the content of the de Chastelain report on decommissioning before making hasty judgments.
"I will judge the situation on one basis and one basis alone, and that is the terms of Gen de Chastelain's report. If it reveals that decommissioning is still on track I will be guided by that. If we are going backwards in the process I will draw the obvious conclusion," he said.
Mr Mandelson added: "In the meantime I ask for cool heads. Raising the temperature on this issue helps no one. I will continue to work for what everyone wants and that is both devolution and decommissioning."