Ulster Unionists cancel ruling council meeting

Ulster Unionists tonight cancelled a meeting of the 900-member ruling council scheduled for this week because of the lack of progress in the peace process.

After a meeting of party officers in Belfast lasting 100 minutes, Ulster Unionist chairman, James Cooper said: “Regrettably there has been no political progress upon which we could go ahead with our Ulster Unionist council meeting on Wednesday night.

“The leader had made it clear that he would only be calling a UUC meeting if there had been meaningful acts of completion by republicans which would enable us to proceed on a new agenda going into this election.

“Through no fault of ours that has simply not happened and therefore we have concluded that there is no merit in that meeting.”

Last week a peace process deal involving the Ulster Unionists, Sinn Fein, the IRA and the British and Irish Governments stumbled over the lack of detail surrounding weapons decommissioning.

Ulster Unionist leader David Trimble put on hold his party’s contribution to a series of choreographed moves designed to bolster the peace process and create the best climate for Assembly elections in Northern Ireland on November 26.

The Upper Bann MP set a date of this Wednesday for a meeting of his ruling council to decide whether to endorse any peace process deal.

But with negotiations in recent days failing to secure further clarity on the IRA’s third decommissioning act, Mr Trimble was tonight forced to call off his plans for Wednesday’s council meeting.