Unionists need to pull back from the idea of imposing sanctions on Sinn Féin which may destabilise the peace process, the SDLP leader Mr Mark Durkan has said.
Mr Durkan made the comments ahead of peace process talks in Co Down tomorrow where unionists will press the British Prime Minister Mr Tony Blair on the state of the IRA ceasefire. The talks will be attended by the Taoiseach, Mr Blair and pro-Agreement parties.
The Ulster Unionist Party leader Mr David Trimble is under pressure within his party to take a stronger line against Sinn Féin ahead of Autumn’s Assembly elections.
Party members are concerned that their main rivals, the DUP, will continue the gains made at the British general election. Unionists believe the First Minister should adopt a tougher line on Sinn Féin because they believe the IRA are orchestrating street violence and their alleged involvement with rebels in Colombia.
But Mr Durkan said: "There is something wrong when the actions of paramilitaries lead to pressure on democratic parties and democratic institutions rather than the anti-democratic elements behind this violence."
He also said the Irish and British governments can not "turn a blind eye" to paramilitary violence adding that Dublin and London need to be honest about the violence in if they are to have credibility.
Mr Durkan insisted both sets of paramilitaries needed to accept responsibility for recent street clashes and "restore calm," while unionists needed to pull back from the idea of sanctions which could destabilise the peace process.
As he visited Newry, Co Down, Mr Durkan said republican and loyalist politicians needed to "take responsibility and do much more to restrain their people and restore calm on the ground and help to restabilise confidence more widely.
Mr Durkan said when the governments refused to publicly acknowledge paramilitary involvement in violence, it undermined the credibility of the wider political process despite all the good work of the power sharing institutions.
Officials in Dublin and London were not optimistic about the prospects of a communique being issued on behalf of all the parties at tomorrow's talks.
Mr Ahern and Mr Blair are expected to hold a series of individual and joint meetings with the Belfast Agreement parties and a final round table session involving all sides.
A British source said: "At this stage, we expect it to be a follow-on from the meeting last week at Hillsborough.
"We will be listening to people's concerns and hoping to manage this process through the summer but there is no sense of any dramatic declaration."
Earlier after talks in Downing Street, Mr Trimble called on Mr Blair to "get on top" of the violence in Belfast and breaches of the IRA ceasefire.
The Northern Ireland First Minister said Mr Blair had to end the "halfway house" of the IRA claiming to keep to its ceasefire while it engaged in street disturbances.
Speaking later in the House of Commons in London Mr Trimble accused Mr Blair of being passive on the issue.
Responding Mr Blair said he condemned all paramilitary violence "whether it is from loyalists or republicans", adding he was not being passive on the issue of violence and it was not acceptable that there was a "half way house."
Meanwhile Sinn Féin national chairman Mr Mitchel McLaughlin tonight criticised UUP minister Mr Michael McGimpsey for his sceptical response to Mr Gerry Adams's call yesterday for an end to all violence.
Mr McLaughlin said: "All of us in political leadership have a duty to tackle this issue and the sectarianism which is driving it.
"In the past week, I have taken an initiative in Derry to stop attacks on the (loyalist) Fountain Estate. Gerry Adams has made clear and unequivocal calls for attacks in interface areas in Belfast to end," he added.
Additional reporting PA
