THE Ulster Unionists, the SDLP and Alliance yesterday held another trilateral discussion on decommissioning at Stormont Castle, Belfast.
A full plenary session of the talks will resume today. The three parties hope to continue meeting informally in an attempt to breathe new life into the peace process.
A member of the SDLP delegation, Mr Sean Farren, described the 40 minute meeting as constructive. "We will be meeting, again over coming days and we hope to encourage the chairman of the talks, former Senator George Mitchell, to become more involved in our discussions," he said.
The British government held bilateral discussions with the Ulster Unionists and Alliance yesterday.
Meanwhile, Sinn Fein has accused the British government of double standards in barring it from talks. Speaking after a loyalist "punishment" shooting, party representative Mr Gerry Kelly said that loyalists were responsible for more than 30 shooting incidents since the summer.
"Despite this, it appears that all the Combined Loyalist Military Command has to do to keep the loyalist parties in the talks is to says nothing," Mr Kelly said.
The British government is quite happy to ignore the evidence of the massive holes in the loyalist cessation. It has consistently applied double standards in its approach to the search for peace.
"Had it worked half as hard at engaging with republicans as it has turning a blind eye to the behaviour of loyalists, then perhaps we would not now be in this situation," he said.