Ian Paisley

"Government should start all over again"

Paisley Says Talks "Dead in the Water"

Dr Paisley said after the Downing Street meeting that the Government should scrap the current arrangements and start all over again.

He told reporters: "We believe that the Government should start again and we should have bilateral meetings with the Government on a proper programme because everything that has been decided at these talks were decided outside the talks ... here in No 10 Downing Street or in Parliament Buildings or in meetings with government ministers."

The Ulster Unionists leader, David Trimble, has resisted pressure to follow the line taken by the DUP. Mr Trimble resisted the call by Belfast Orangemen to withdraw from the talks. He said difficulties over decommissioning were no reason to walk away from the negotiations.

David Trimble: resisting pressure

Trimble: won't abandon talks

Leaders of the loyalist Orange Order in Belfast have described the terms for Sinn Fein's inclusion in the process as "phoney" and "a poisoned chalice" for Protestants.

Leaders of the city's County Grand Lodge met representatives of the three main Unionist parties on Monday night and told them the interests of Protestants and the maintenance of the union would be best served if they withdrew from the talks process immediately.