A senior Ulster Unionist today indicated that his party would be prepared to accept an agreement on the return to Northern Ireland of IRA fugitives without going to jail.
Dermot Nesbitt, the environment minister in the Stormont executive, insisted there could not be an outright amnesty for the 30 or so republican fugitives still thought to be on the run.
However he indicated that discussions were taking place with the British government on a plan which would allow the IRA men to return after undergoing some form of judicial process.
It is thought that agreement on the thorny issue of the so-called "on-the-runs" could pave the way for a new act of weapons decommissioning by the IRA.
"I trust that there will be some judicial process that will occur," Mr Nesbitt told BBC Radio 4's the World at Oneprogramme.
Mr Nesbitt, a close ally of Ulster Unionist leader David Trimble, refused to be drawn on the details of the party's discussions with the British government.
"All I will say in general is the word ‘amnesty' is not to be welcome by a community that wants to see law and order fully instigated and restored in Northern Ireland," he said.
"But we do recognise there are 30 years of violence we are trying to come out of. The government is trying to find some way through the difficulty it has. Let's see what they come forward with."
The Unionists' opposition to a full amnesty was underlined yesterday at talks at Hillsborough with represents of the British and Irish governments and the pro-Belfast Agreement parties.
"That's not in the Agreement. There is no amnesty," he told reporters afterwards.
It was however reported that Mr Trimble had privately told Prime Minister Tony Blair that he would accept the IRA fugitives' return provided that there was some form of judicial process.
PA