Sinn Féin and the Ulster Unionists were back in contact yesterday as attempts began to restart the process which Mr Trimble insists is on hold and not wrecked.
The atmosphere in Belfast was marked more by disappointment rather than recrimination with Sinn Féin and unionists continuing to insist they had kept to their understanding with each other.
For republicans, Mr Martin McGuinness claimed the IRA had gone beyond normal limits to allow Gen John de Chastelain, the head of the decommissioning body (IICD), to outline the scale of Tuesday's weapons disposal.
Mr Trimble, stressing that the deal was delayed rather than in ruins, said last night that the required degree of transparency was missing.
He suggested that should it be provided things could proceed.
Throwing a crumb of comfort in the general's direction, he told UTV that he was not "solely to blame" for Tuesday's debacle. However, he did question whether there was any confidentiality obligation on the IICD under current legislation.
"The real problem lies with the republican movement," he said. He added that early commitments by the IRA included attempts to maximise public confidence in the putting of illegal weapons beyond use and suggested that the problem remained.
"The \ first two acts were just bald statements with no evidence whatsoever and people became extremely cynical about the process. That's why we made it clear earlier this year that there had to be transparent decommissioning. Yesterday we simply didn't get it."
Mr Trimble said he had not committed his party to anything until he had seen what Sinn Féin and the IRA had done on Tuesday.
"When it became clear that there had not been the necessary transparency, the we put things on hold. \ gives people the opportunity to put the mistake right and I hope very much that they do so."
Sinn Féin said yesterday it was unsure where things had gone so badly wrong.
Mr Martin McGuinness told a press conference at the party's Falls Road headquarters: "I am very disappointed by the lack of support for Gen de Chastelain and the IICD. I am critical of the two governments."
Defending the IICD he added: "This was not a question of presentation.
"For a long time, people have almost been elevating themselves to a position where you would almost think they were responsible."
The party president, Mr Gerry Adams, spoke in terms of an agreement with others being broken.
"My point is we had an agreement, he said. "All who were party to the sequence knew what was happening. Why would the governments have come if they did not know what was on board?"
Echoing concerns known to be held by the British government, Mr Adams said it was essential that the deal be fixed as soon as possible. "That is something at all costs that must be avoided," he said. He also expressed concerns that the nature of the relationship between his party and the Ulster Unionists had been damaged and claimed some republicans had asked what was the point of such a close understanding with the Ulster Unionists.
Pressing London and Dublin to back the IICD and Gen de Chastelain he added: "It is incumbent on both governments to defend that [the IICD], promote that, to validate that and to uphold that.
"We can all chase our tails from now till kingdom come about if the IRA did this or that or about Ulster Unionism, but when a commission performs its duty under an agreed scheme and regulations, we are looking to see that actively promoted and defended."
The SDLP leader, Mr Mark Durkan, urged the IRA to remove the confidentiality obligation on Gen de Chastelain over exactly what was decommissioned to get the peace process back on track.
"I do believe that the IRA should waive this right to confidentiality.
"I don't think public confidence loses anything by the IRA waiving that right to confidentiality."
He added: "Let us get in the public domain everything that the public have a right to have in the public domain."
Mr Durkan was consulted for his views yesterday on possible ways forward during a telephone call with the British Prime Minister Mr Blair.