Unionist parties in support of the Belfast Agreement must take a united approach in their campaign for a Yes vote in the referendum, the Ulster Democratic Party leader, Mr Gary McMichael, told his party's annual conference on Saturday. He said more cohesion was needed among the parties to highlight what he called "the facts" of the agreement.
"There has to be a standing together shoulder to shoulder of the pro-agreement, pro-Union parties. We have a responsibility to do that. There are enough people out there trying to split unionism. Those of us who have been in there, and who have fought the fight within the negotiations, must stand together now," he said.
The past week has seen a number of high-profile rallies by unionists opposed to the deal, including one at the Ulster Hall in Belfast where three dissident Ulster Unionist MPs joined with the Rev Ian Paisley and Mr Bob McCartney in calling for a No vote.
Mr McMichael said: "My concern is not that they are right or that, en masse, the population of Northern Ireland will swing towards rejecting the agreement at the referendum, but that all their media and PR bombardment is not being adequately answered by all those who support the proposals."
The UDP, which is the political wing of the UDA, held its one-day annual conference at the La Mon House Hotel in Castlereagh, outside Belfast. Twelve Protestants were killed in the hotel in 1978 in an IRA firebomb attack, which was one of the worst atrocities of the Troubles.
Some 200 delegates, the vast majority of whom were male and under 50, attended the conference.
Mr McMichael said the agreement was "far from perfect" but called for a Yes vote. "There are areas we are slightly uncomfortable with, but loyalist principles have not been undermined." The agreement was not a settlement, "but it provides a base on which we can work towards a settlement," he said.
The UDP leader used his keynote address to respond to a 10point argument put forward by the DUP against the agreement. He also made repeated attacks on Dr Paisley. "When he says No, he means no future. He has no alternative and no answers."
Working-class loyalist people had mobilised in defence of the Union and had "lived with the consequences of war" while others sat at home, he said. "Paisley has led people by the nose for too long," he said.
The UDP had come into existence because of a lack of leadership in unionism. "Never again will we [loyalist people] put our trust in people who claim to be leaders, but refuse to lead," he said, to loud applause. Mr McMichael welcomed Friday's statement from the UDA/UFF endorsing the agreement. "Those who have been closest to the conflict understand the consequences of war and further war," he added.
He said that, contrary to DUP claims, power-sharing with Sinn Fein would strengthen the union with Britain. Sinn Fein's participation in the Assembly would mean the party was recognising Northern Ireland's right to exist as part of the UK. Neither community would have a veto over the other in the Assembly, and no decisions could be taken by the North-South council without the approval of elected representatives in the North.
The agreement would bring an end to direct rule, abolish the Anglo-Irish Agreement and return power to the people of Northern Ireland. Britain's supreme authority over the North still existed and the Republic had relinquished its claim.
All parties in the assembly would be committed to purely democratic means, and released prisoners would pose no threat to the community. The RUC would not be disbanded to satisfy a republican agenda, and the criminal justice system would be brought back in line with the rest of the UK through the removal of emergency legislation.