The UK Unionist Party leader, Mr Robert McCartney, has rounded on "political pygmies" in the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) who, he claimed, prompted Dr Conor Cruise O'Brien to resign from his party. Mr McCartney also rejected a claim by a senior UUP member, Mr Reg Empey, that Dr O'Brien was forced to resign from the UK Unionist Party (UKUP) because of his view that unionists in certain circumstances could be better off in a united Ireland.
Mr McCartney said it was clear from Dr O'Brien's letter of resignation yesterday that he departed from the party of his own volition and not because of any pressure from the UKUP. He said he not only admired Dr O'Brien but loved him.
Mr McCartney said that Dr O'Brien, a man of international standing was a true friend of the Union but the UUP had exploited his "analysis or hypothesis" that a negotiated united Ireland might be more amenable to unionists in certain circumstances to force his resignation.
He referred specifically to Dr O'Brien's comments in his resignation letter that if he remained in the party "it will be - indeed is being - exploited by the party's enemies".
This was an apparent reference to two UUP politicians, Mr Michael McGimpsey and Mr Empey, who during Monday's Assembly meeting made ironic reference to Dr O'Brien's suggestions.
The UUP leader, Mr David Trimble, also made a mocking comment yesterday about the UKUP now being the "United Ireland Party". But nonetheless Dr O'Brien's comments did cause some difficulty for the UKUP. Mr McCartney felt compelled to reiterate yesterday that it was a "fable, absurd nonsense" for anyone to suggest that the UKUP could even continue as a party were it to negotiate a united Ireland.
Dr O'Brien had acknowledged this in his resignation letter where he stated that he (Mr McCartney) had always made it clear that he entered politics "to maintain the Union, and not to act as its undertaker", added the UKUP leader.
But Mr Empey continued to claim that the UKUP forced Dr O'Brien to resign because he had caused such acute embarrassment.
"It is now obvious that Mr McCartney has brought a cuckoo into the unionist nest. It is perfectly clear by Dr O'Brien's remarks that the UKUP has a defeatist attitude to maintaining the Union," he added.
The UUP appears intent on achieving as much political mileage as possible from Dr O'Brien's comments about a united Ireland and his subsequent resignation.
Party members have gleefully adverted to how Sinn Fein agreed with Dr O'Brien's analysis.
Mr Ruairi O Bradaigh, the Republican Sinn Fein leader, joined in the controversy by stating that Dr O'Brien's analysis was in keeping with the line he had been proposing since 1969. Mr Ian Paisley jnr of the DUP said that, while not accepting Dr O'Brien's ultimate analysis that unionists might be better off in a united Ireland, it also had to be acknowledged that the British government was trying to drive unionists in that direction, as Dr O'Brien was arguing.
He accepted Dr O'Brien as a friend of the Union and said it was a sad day for unionism that the UUP should exploit the situation.
"The UUP will use this as ammunition to attack their opponents within unionism, but by doing that they are attacking unionism," added Mr Paisley.
Meanwhile, Mr McCartney has called for a unionist-nationalist political realignment that would exclude Sinn Fein and open the door for the introduction of internment to combat any resurgence of paramilitary violence.
He said that irrespective of the terms of the Belfast Agreement there was a moral obligation on constitutional political parties to exclude from the democratic process parties such as Sinn Fein that were linked to organisations that would not disarm.
Mr McCartney said he did not accept the general view that the paramilitaries could not be defeated.
A "pan-democratic front involving the SDLP, unionist parties and the British and Irish governments" could create the necessary conditions to tackle paramilitarism, he argued.
Were Sinn Fein to be marginalised from normal politics, this could lead to a return to IRA violence, but nonetheless he believed the paramilitaries could still be defeated.
With a new pan-democratic front the political atmosphere could be created to allow a reintroduction of internment.
He said Sinn Fein and the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) could live. UUP members had demonstrated at their weekend annual conference that they would not tolerate any compromise allowing Sinn Fein into cabinet without some decommissioning, and Mr David Trimble must heed that warning.
In the event of stalemate the British and Irish governments could attempt to impose a settlement, but he believed they would balk at such a move because of the danger of unionist rebellion. "What I want to see is constitutional nationalism abandon the pan-nationalist front that includes those committed to violence if the democratic process does not deliver their objectives," said Mr McCartney.
