The North's First Minister, Mr David Trimble, welcomed yesterday's vote endorsing plans for the transfer of powers to the Assembly, but has insisted that Sinn Fein's entry into an executive is dependent on the IRA beginning to disarm.
He said that the "decks had been cleared" for the creation in March of an executive, North-South bodies, a British-Irish council and a civic forum. "All the procedures, the quite complicated structures, have been resolved," he added.
The IRA now had to begin decommissioning to enable Sinn Fein to enter an executive. "The onus is on the paramilitaries to act. That must take place between now and March 10th. It is up to them. There is nothing further that we can do," Mr Trimble said.
However, the DUP leader, the Rev Ian Paisley, accused Mr Trimble of acting to destroy Northern Ireland's union with Britain. While 50 per cent of unionists in the Assembly - with the backing of the Progressive Unionist Party's two members - supported the devolution report in yesterday's vote, Dr Paisley claimed that more than 50 per cent of "grassroots unionists" were opposed to Mr Trimble.
Mr Martin McGuinness, of Sinn Fein, said he was very glad that the report paving the way for devolution had been passed by more than 72 per cent of the Assembly's members. "We are up for it, Sinn Fein is buoyed by this vote," he said.
Mr McGuinness described the support for Mr Trimble as "rocksolid". Referring to the decommissioning issue, he added: "Whatever problems remain can be resolved in due course."
Rachel Donnelly, in London, writes: The Sinn Fein president, Mr Gerry Adams, has said that the British and Irish governments must push ahead with the formation of the Northern Ireland executive in shadow form within the next few weeks because power cannot be transferred "into a vacuum".
Welcoming yesterday's vote in the Assembly, which cleared the way for the transfer of powers from London and Dublin under the terms of the agreement, Mr Adams said that Mr Trimble's position had been "strengthened".
Mr Adams, who was speaking after an 80-minute meeting with the British Prime Minister, Mr Tony Blair, at Downing Street yesterday, said that the issue of decommissioning would be resolved if both governments and all the parties remained focused on upholding the agreement.
