Blair to meet unionists today

Ulster Unionists are looking for something more substantial than an act of disarmament from the IRA if devolution is to be restored, a senior member of the party said today.

As David Trimble’s Ulster Unionists headed to Downing Street for talks with British Prime Minister Tony Blair to revive the peace process, former Stormont minister Michael McGimpsey insisted republicans would have to address the need to abandon paramilitarism.