DUP MEP Jim Allister, one of the party's main sceptics about powersharing with Sinn Féin, has said that unionists must not be easily persuaded about republican bona fides.
Mr Allister, who was campaigning in South Down for DUP candidates Jim Wells and William Burns, said yesterday these were representatives "willing to put manners on republicanism".
"Republicanism, with its bloodthirsty past, is owed no favours by unionism. Nor, in consequence should we be easily persuaded as to their democratic bona fides. The onus is on Sinn Féin," said Mr Allister.
"There can be no conditionality, equivocation or selectivity in supporting the police, the rule of law and the courts. Delivery is not weasel words but sustained action, tested and proved over a credible period. Jim Wells and William Burns will not be rolled over either by a bullying government or half-measures from Sinn Féin, either now or in the future," he added.
Mr Allister, while urging support for DUP candidates, said unionists should use the proportional representation system to maximise the overall vote for unionism by voting down the ballot paper for other unionist candidates.
Meanwhile, the SDLP candidate in Strangford, Joe Boyle, said that climate change and other environmental issues were now important matters on the doorstep. "I believe people are ready to change their lifestyles to help the environment, provided they are given leadership and there is a fair distribution of the sacrifices that must be made," he said.
He called for a concerted approach to help reduce "our carbon footprint", and added, "it is time to break down the totally false argument that environmental protection is some sort of extra cost or imposition on business and agriculture.
Eco-friendly production has its own economic rationale and can in fact make a direct contribution to more sustainable farming and the economic regeneration of rural areas and small coastal communities.
"Hand in hand with punitive measures to combat polluters and those who would profit from illegal waste dumping, we need to build upon the structures that are already in place to encourage everything from alternative energy to zero-waste production and lifestyles."
Former Noraid chief Martin Galvin has predicted that independent republicans opposed to the St Andrews Agreement who are standing in the Assembly elections will upset some of Sinn Féin's ambitions. Mr Galvin campaigned last week for former IRA prisoner Gerry McGeough in Fermanagh South Tyrone and for Peggy O'Hara, mother of H-Block hunger striker Patsy O'Hara, in Foyle.
Republican Sinn Féin is also standing candidates in six constituencies who oppose St Andrews and who have deplored Sinn Féin for endorsing the PSNI.
While Sinn Féin claims that opposition from independent republicans will not pose a serious threat, Mr Galvin said the candidates were being well received on the doorsteps. He said former Sinn Féin supporters were canvassing for independent republican candidates and that the response was positive.
