Ulster Unionist leader David Trimble came under fire last night from the DUP, which accused him of "having utterly failed to deal with Sinn Féin/IRA".
DUP deputy leader Peter Robinson, right, claimed Mr Trimble was "afraid to face up to the fact that he is desperate for the government to indefinitely put off elections".
Mr Robinson also said the former first minister had made it clear "that it will not be republicans but the DUP which he seeks to pressurise if the assembly were to restart".
"Ordinary unionists will find it absolutely incredible that having utterly failed to deal with Sinn Féin/IRA his main focus of attention seems to be the DUP," the East Belfast MP said.
The IRA "will extract every last concession before it delivers some ambiguous commitment in return", he said, referring to recent negotiations.
"By the end of the process the IRA would have pocketed the gains, only for the process to once again collapse before the next election," Mr Robinson said.
"David Trimble cannot wash his hands of responsibility for the failure of the current process," he added. "He is the author of his own misfortune."
