THE simmering inter unionist rivalry over Thursday's elections in the North has erupted into open verbal warfare, with unionist leaders exchanging accusations and recriminations.
The spark for the spate of acrimonious exchanges appeared to be a late surge of Ulster Unionist Party alarm that its electoral support could be seriously damaged by a leakage of votes to the multiplicity of minor unionist parties contesting the election.
Launching a campaign urging a consolidation of pro Union votes behind the UUP, the party's deputy leader, Mr John Taylor, warned that there could be "great damage" to the cause of the Union if the vote is divided up between these parties.
He said the "list system" being employed in the election would splinter the pro Union vote, and in supporting it the Democratic Unionist Party had played into the hands of the SDLP and the Dublin Government.
The UUP leader, Mr David Trimble, said an "unholy alliance between the DUP leader, the Rev Ian Paisley, and the SDLP leader, Mr John Hume, had led to the list system being adopted.
However, Dr Paisley asserted that his party would emerge as the biggest unionist party in the election. He accused Mr Trimble and Mr Taylor of having split away from "traditional unionism".
The DUP deputy leader, Mr Peter Robinson, accused the UUP of being concerned only about the danger of a slide in its own support. He claimed the list system, far from eroding the overall pro Union vote, would actually increase unionist representation at the all party talks by bringing in some of the smaller unionist groupings.
But Mr Robert McCartney, who heads the UK Unionist Party, described the UUP leaders as "rank amateurs" in their conduct of the election campaign and their approach to negotiations.
Mr McCartney said after the election he would approach the UUP and DUP leaderships with the aim of agreeing a common negotiating stance in the all party talks, and a joint strategy of suspending participation in the talks if their core principles were breached.
Both Mr McCartney and the DUP accused Mr Trimble of treachery to the Union because of his reported comments that the Government of Ireland Act could be put on the agenda at negotiations. He had also allegedly said the Act could be repealed tomorrow and it would not matter, because it was a technicality.
Mr Trimble responded by pointing out that his party intended to remain at the table to defend the Union. Under the ground rules for the negotiations, anything could be put on the table, but the bottom line was the Act of Union, which must be protected.
The UUP leader said all of the clauses in the Government of Ireland Act, bar three, had been repealed many years ago.
In a speech last night in Ballymena, Co Antrim, Mr Trimble renewed his attack on the Tanaiste, Mr Spring, questioning his good faith in regard to the negotiations due to start on June 10th.
Mr Trimble quoted a newspaper report which said that the Government was pressing for the appointment of an arbitrator in the talks who would have power to resolve disagreements and would be able to expel parties "if they did not toe the line".
This was a preposterous idea, but provided an insight into Mr Spring's mind, the UUP leader said. He added: "It shows that he is not serious about negotiating with the parties in Northern Ireland. It is clear that he simply wants a mechanism to, impose a certain outcome on us.
Mr Trimble asserted that Mr Spring would want to exclude unionists from the talks. "Consequently those unionists who declare their intention to stay out of the talks or walk out as soon as nationalists say something they do not like are simply playing into Dublin's hands," he said.