MR DAVID Trimble and Sir Patrick Mayhew met privately in London last night in an effort to "clear the air" between them in advance of a more formal meeting today.
Earlier yesterday the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) leader accused the media in the Republic, particularly The Irish Times and RTE, of imbalanced coverage in favour of republicans.
On Monday Mr Trimble wrote to the Northern Secretary complaining that British government suggestions that he or his party had sought to engage in "clandestine deals" over the Scott report were wildly inaccurate".
The letter referred to allegations from several Tories that the UUP had attempted to trade its nine Westminster votes supporting Mr John Major in last week's crucial Scott report vote in exchange for concessions on the type of election to be held in Northern Ireland.
Sir Patrick at the time indicated that the British government had rejected offers of "clandestine deals". Relationships since between the two politicians have been frosty. Mr Trimble in his letter said he and his colleagues would have "difficulty over future liaison" with the Northern Secretary's department.
Mr Trimble claimed that Sir Patrick and his political development minister, Mr Michael Ancram, had departed from the protocol normally governing their relationship.
"I deeply resent the attacks you launched on my party and myself last week," Mr Trimble wrote. Mr Trimble said he was writing the letter in an attempt to "clear the air". Last night's meeting was an attempt to do just that.
In another development yesterday, Mr Trimble criticised what he claimed was unbalanced media coverage in the Republic in an interview on BBC Radio Ulster. He said he found it "quite startling in dealing with the media in the Republic that it did not seem to have "any commitment to balance and impartiality".
Mr Trimble said that "most of the Dublin based media seems to be very much extending sympathy and understanding towards republicans and the difficulties there are with regard to the terrible demands that are made upon them". "There are a couple of columnists on the [Sunday] Independent who provide a little balance to the rest of the paper, and there is scarcely anything in The Irish Times that provides even a hint of balance," he added.
"The media in the Republic do have a strangely unbalanced way of going. I must check up some time to see is there any statutory obligation on RTE to be impartial the way there is on ITV and the BBC in the United Kingdom," he said.
