Mr David Trimble last night said Mr Ahern's proposals on changes in the Irish Constitution were "completely unacceptable". He objected to possible constitutional wording which accepted the principle of consent but did not explicitly recognise British sovereignty over Northern Ireland.
The Ulster Unionist Party leader, in a speech in Larne, focused on the possible constitutional wording leaving intact the "definition of the Irish nation as co-terminus with the island of Ireland".
"The British people of Ulster are not, and have never been, part of the Irish nation. We are British and intend to remain so. The Irish Constitution must withdraw its claim over Northern Ireland and distinguish between `nation' and `state'," he said.
"Furthermore, the Ulster Unionist Party will never agree to any form of institutional arrangements between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland which can be, either potentially or in practice, interpreted as an all-Ireland government.
"There can be no arrangement for North-South co-operation resembling an embryonic all-Ireland government."
