Unionists last night faced new demands by Belfast Orangemen to pull out of the Stormont talks process.
Leaders of the city's County Grand Lodge, who met representatives of the three main unionist parties, said the interests of Protestants and the maintenance of the Union would be best served if they withdrew. The current peace process, they claimed, was "phoney" and a
"poisoned chalice".
After a three-hour meeting last night, the Belfast Orangemen said:
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"All unionist parties should withdraw immediately in an act of unity and solidarity from the Stormont talks, the existence and purpose of which is solely to satisfy the insatiable demand of the republican agenda."