Trimble remark draws strong attack from within

A row erupted in the Ulster Unionist Party tonight after David Trimble was accused of exacerbating internal divisions in the wake of the second act of IRA decommissioning.

UUP president the Rev Martin Smyth, who challenged Mr Trimble for the leadership of the party in March 2000, criticised the Northern Ireland First Minister for claiming the second act of decommissioning had made anti Good Friday Agreement unionists look ‘‘rather foolish’’.