The Rev Ian Paisley tonight warned Sinn Féin and British Prime Minister Tony Blair there would be no cabinet seat for republicans in a future power sharing government of Northern Ireland unless the IRA had gone out of business.

The Rev Ian Paisley will have to talk directly to Sinn Féin sooner or later, he was told today.

The Rev Ian Paisley’s Democratic Unionists were tonight accused by a rival of being anti-Agreement in name only.

The Rev Ian Paisley, leader of the Democratic Unionist Party, which opposes the anti-Good Friday Agreement, has said he believed a ‘‘dirty deal’’ had been struck by Sinn Fein and the British Government.