The DUP deputy leader, Mr Peter Robinson, has said that he is neither "anxious nor impressed" about the effective late November deadline for a deal set by the British and Irish governments. He said however that he desired a deal which both "Planter and Gael" could endorse.
Mr Robinson made it clear last night that the DUP felt under no pressure to do a deal in the coming weeks despite the Taoiseach's warning earlier this week that it would be a tactical mistake not to do so.
Mr Robinson's remarks will cause concern to the British and Irish governments who increasingly fear that the DUP is not prepared to do a deal this side of a British general election, expected in the spring or early summer of next year.
He did not mention the Taoiseach by name but was implicitly critical of Mr Ahern's comments this week where, with the support of the British government, he chiefly blamed the DUP for the delay in effecting a deal that would see devolution restored.
Mr Robinson complained about a "partial and perverted version of the negotiations" emanating from Dublin.
Next week the governments are due to present the DUP and Sinn Féin with their best read of what should constitute a deal.They have attempted to ratchet up the pressure on the DUP to do a deal now but Mr Robinson was insistent that the party would not accept "another half-baked deal".
He said: "Those who criticise us and blame us for delay should survey the wreckage of past quick fixes." He did not feel pessimistic about the prospect of resolving outstanding problems but warned that "if people have a fixation with the clock, it will damage the potential outcome".
On the argument over decommissioning transparency, Mr Robinson said that "certainty is the key" and that a visual element was required "to convince people who have lived through the dark days of the past decades that political arrangements they could never have contemplated may now be possible".
His party was totally united in its policies and strategies despite report of divisions.
Of the effective November 26th deadline, he added: "I am neither anxious nor impressed." He said republicans had dodged, danced, defied and driven through deadlines and had suffered no consequences.
The Sinn Féin president, Mr Gerry Adams, has called for a form of British-Irish power-sharing in the absence of a deal and some senior sources suggested that the British-Irish dimension would be bolstered if the talks fail. "The DUP have a choice," Mr Adams said yesterday. "They can be part of the process now but if they don't or won't or cannot, then the process will move forward anyway."
Again Mr Robinson was unimpressed: "The DUP will determine its response according to the quality of the proposal, not the threat of the alternative."
There was also a conciliatory element to Mr Robinson's speech to his East Belfast constituency branch last night where he was again selected to run for Westminster. He said the DUP earnestly and constructively was seeking a deal that was workable and that would be acceptable to "our people".
"When I speak of 'our people' I speak of those who share my unionist philosophy and those who do not. I speak of both the Planter and the Gael. I speak of those who will willingly and faithfully embrace the challenges of building concord and leave behind the conflict that has destroyed and embittered.
"The terror campaign must be consigned to history. Together, as equals, in a wholly peaceful and democratic society, we can seize the opportunity and complete the task of realising our highest hopes and dearest dreams. I pray that soon or sooner we will arrive at that golden day."
