Ulster Unionist leader David Trimble was today facing the prospect of a more hardline Assembly team as some of his harshest critics in the party were selected as candidates for the next Stormont election.

A veteran Ulster unionist member of the Northern Assembly is to retire at the next Stormont election.

The Ulster Unionist Party must return to its original Assembly commitment to keep Sinn Fein out of government until the IRA disarms and disbands, South Antrim MP David Burnside insisted today.

An Ulster Unionist MP today defended his decision to hold private talks with a loyalist paramilitary group during the summer.