Trimble bids to quell unrest in party

Ulster Unionist leaders are to attempt to convince the party’s hard line members not to call a meeting of the Ulster Unionist Party’s ruling council.

At the party’s Glengall Street headquarters in Belfast, Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) leader David Trimble met with assembly members, party officers and constituency association representatives in a bid to quell growing unrest in the party and persuade them that there is no basis on which to call a meeting of the party council.

It is thought that top of the agenda is a means by which the UUP could extricate itself from the Executive should IRA decommissioning fail to be verifiably completed.

Currently there are sufficient signatories for a meeting of the Ulster Unionist Council to be called, and a petition has already been lodged to hold a meeting on December 1.

Mr Trimble has recently been able to convince the council to support his policies, though his support in the wider party has eroded slightly.

Party members in both the pro-Agreement and anti-Agreement camps think it unlikely that Mr Trimble would be successful in heading off a full meeting of the council.

Last week’s closely fought vote for the appointments of the First and Deputy First Minister only just managed to achieve the quorum required in the overall Unionist vote when the Alliance Party were allowed to be temporarily redesignated as Unionist. (SP)