Trimble: No plans to step down

David Trimble has said he has no plans to step down as leader of the Ulster Unionist Party – whatever his “personal preferences”.

Mr Trimble told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “Every event makes you reflect, but I am not minded to go. In fact, actually I have been very much encouraged by the people who, over the course of the last day, have been urging me not to think about these matters.

“This is not the time to abandon one’s post and one’s responsibilities and to put one’s own personal preferences ahead of the public interest.”

Northern Secretary Paul Murphy insisted that the Good Friday Agreement was not a dead letter.

He said: “The fundamentals of the agreement cannot be changed, because they, for example, talk about the principle of consent here in Northern Ireland, it talks about power sharing between nationalists and unionists which must occur, about arrangements north, south, east and west, all those things are fundamental to any way in which Northern Ireland is governed.

“But we have a review coming up. And we will be looking at how we deal with that in the days ahead.

“The agreement is not dead, because most people in Northern Ireland want it to work. I am not underestimating the difficulties, but I am not unhopeful that we can make progress.”