Trimble demands public release of statement

Ulster Unionist leader David Trimble demanded the public release of the IRA statement at the heart of the current deadlock in the peace process.

As Mr Murphy and Foreign Minister Brian Cowen met at Stormont to discuss their next move in the peace process, Mr Trimble insisted Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams had not clarified questions about the IRA’s future.

The Upper Bann MP said: “We call for the immediate publication of the IRA’s statement so that people can judge Mr Adams’s interpretation of that statement and the Prime Minister’s response against the actual words of the IRA.

“As for Mr Adams’s interpretation, we agree with the (British) Prime Minister that it is defective on continuing paramilitary activity.

“I also have to say that we find his response on the winding up of the private army unsatisfactory.”

There was no basis for the lifting of suspension and he revealed the party would not be putting forward a candidate for First Minister or Deputy First Minister after the election.

Neither would he be voting for anyone who did.

Mr Trimble added: “We will not acquiesce with the lifting of suspension.”