The Sinn Fein chairman, Mr Mitchel McLaughlin, has warned the British Prime Minister, Mr Tony Blair, not to change the terms and conditions of the Belfast Agreement in an "eagerness to placate unionism".
"Republicans and nationalists are becoming ever more sceptical of a British government whose every reaction to unionist intractability is to threaten sanctions against republicans who have shown leadership and imagination in its efforts to reach an honourable agreement," Mr McLaughlin said.
"What is required is the immediate implementation of the agreement for which the people of Ireland voted, not continuous capitulation to a unionism that is intent on preventing the change which is required to build a true democratic society in Ireland."