An Ulster Unionist Minister has called on unionists to understand the internal tensions "currently plaguing Irish republicanism". Addressing a meeting of the South Belfast UUP Association, Mr Michael McGimpsey said republicans' actions and rhetoric showed there was deep frustration among their grass-roots.
"The agreement is not a good deal for Irish Republicans and as it beds down through devolution, the constitutional realities and constraints contained within it are daily becoming clearer to Sinn FΘin.
"Sinn FΘin are still a dynamic and highly resourced organisation but their room for manoeuvre is slowly but surely shrinking . . . A frustrated Sinn FΘin leadership will do its best to infuriate unionists and embarrass the [British]government. Unionism needs to understand this and to expose it," he said.
