Row breaks out over Trimble's 'foolish' comments

A row has broken out between UUP leader David Trimble and the party president Martin Smyth over Mr Trimble’s comments following last week’s act of IRA decommissioning.

Mr Smyth accused Mr Trimble of stoking internal party divisions by claiming that the second act of decommissioning had made anti-agreement unionists look "rather foolish".

Mr Smyth said it was not foolish to believe that the Good Friday Agreement was unrecognisable from the one the unionist community had originally been sold.

Meanwhile, John Taylor, the former UUP deputy leader, has claimed that there will never be a united Ireland.

Speaking at a UUP meeting in Portadown, Co Armagh, last night, Mr Taylor, also known as Lord Kilclooney, said the Republic is gradually being drawn back into a closer relationship with the United Kingdom.