Cheerful Paisley threatens expulsion over SF talks

The DUP leader, Ian Paisley, has said that "any party member
who negotiated with Sinn Fein after the election would be
immediately expelled."

Dr Paisley was speaking as he campaigned in County Down as
part of an apparent DUP strategy to keep their aging leader
away from the media.

But the comments have further underlined the difficulty facing
the peace process in the eventuality that Dr Paisley becomes
the dominant unionist figure in the new Assembly following
next Thursday's poll.

His health and role in the campaign have been questioned, but
he has made light of the matter.

"They say I'm dying, but I'm taking a long time to die," he
told journalists. "I rise at 3 a.m. I have breakfast and read
the Bible. I'm on the bus from morning until evening. I attend
nightly campaign meetings. I love elections.

"I love meeting the people and they love me. They know I've
never misled them. I'm truthful and blunt. You don't need a
dictionary to understand Ian Paisley."

Dr Paisley describes the public response to the campaign as
"overwhelming - I've never seen anything like it".

"After the agreement, the DUP was written off. They said we
were finished, but the wheel has turned. We will be the
biggest unionist party after the election. It's a modern
miracle."

Today, DUP supporters forced the rival Ulster Unionist leader,
David Trimble, to abandon an election walkabout in Antrim
town.

With five days to go before polling day, Mr. Trimble had
intended canvassing in the Castle Shopping Centre.

He arrived by helicopter on a tour of Counties Down and Antrim
but was heckled as he spoke to shoppers who called him a
traitor for negotiating with Sinn Fein and shaking hands with
Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams.

Meanwhile, the Ulster Unionist Party has said the DUP's
position on devolution is "a massive departure from their
previous position".

He described the DUP plan to retain the Belfast Assembly but
to abandon the principle of power-sharing as a "Stormont
County Council".

"The great deception continues," said former economy Minister
Reg Empey, who accused the DUP of making "a cynical attempt to
disguise the fact that they have accepted the institutions,
including all-Ireland bodies."

"This latest stab at rational politics is as doomed as their
re-negotiation ploy - nobody will buy it. Nationalists
certainly won't go for what effectively amounts to a Stormont
County Council," he said.

ADAMS RETURNS TO CAMPAIGN

Meanwhile, Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams MP returns to the
campaign tomorrow with an extensive canvass in his West
Belfast constituency following the death of his father earlier
in the week.

In a statement, he said that 'a vote for Sinn Fein is
the best guarantee that there will be no renegotiation of the
Agreement and that a strong and decisive Sinn Fein vote is a
strong and decisive vote against the DUP and the
rejectionists'.

Mr Adams said:

"The Sinn Fein peace strategy, and the endorsement of this by
the electorate in growing numbers, has transformed our
society. The DUP and rejectionists know this. That is why they
have made Sinn Fein a central plank of their campaign.

"The strength of Sinn Fein's electoral support has made that
difference. It delivers. For decades others failed to deliver
change. They engaged in endless talks about talks. In our
Local Councils, before Sinn Fein arrived, others accepted
inequality, discrimination and second class citizenship, Sinn
Fein Councillors did not. They confronted the bigots. They
delivered change right across the six counties.

"A vote for Sinn Fein is the best guarantee that there will be
no renegotiation of the Good Friday Agreement. A strong and
decisive vote for Sinn Fein is a strong and decisive vote
against the DUP.

"In this election we are asking people to endorse our work and
to vote and transfer to Sinn Fein to maximise nationalist
representation in the Assembly and the Executive and to return
a Sinn Fein First or Deputy First Minister."
Cheerful Paisley threatens expulsion over SF talks

The DUP leader, Ian Paisley, has said that "any party member
who negotiated with Sinn Fein after the election would be
immediately expelled."

Dr Paisley was speaking as he campaigned in County Down as
part of an apparent DUP strategy to keep their aging leader
away from the media.

But the comments have further underlined the difficulty facing
the peace process in the eventuality that Dr Paisley becomes
the dominant unionist figure in the new Assembly following
next Thursday's poll.

His health and role in the campaign have been questioned, but
he has made light of the matter.

"They say I'm dying, but I'm taking a long time to die," he
told journalists. "I rise at 3 a.m. I have breakfast and read
the Bible. I'm on the bus from morning until evening. I attend
nightly campaign meetings. I love elections.

"I love meeting the people and they love me. They know I've
never misled them. I'm truthful and blunt. You don't need a
dictionary to understand Ian Paisley."

Dr Paisley describes the public response to the campaign as
"overwhelming - I've never seen anything like it".

"After the agreement, the DUP was written off. They said we
were finished, but the wheel has turned. We will be the
biggest unionist party after the election. It's a modern
miracle."

Today, DUP supporters forced the rival Ulster Unionist leader,
David Trimble, to abandon an election walkabout in Antrim
town.

With five days to go before polling day, Mr. Trimble had
intended canvassing in the Castle Shopping Centre.

He arrived by helicopter on a tour of Counties Down and Antrim
but was heckled as he spoke to shoppers who called him a
traitor for negotiating with Sinn Fein and shaking hands with
Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams.

Meanwhile, the Ulster Unionist Party has said the DUP's
position on devolution is "a massive departure from their
previous position".

He described the DUP plan to retain the Belfast Assembly but
to abandon the principle of power-sharing as a "Stormont
County Council".

"The great deception continues," said former economy Minister
Reg Empey, who accused the DUP of making "a cynical attempt to
disguise the fact that they have accepted the institutions,
including all-Ireland bodies."

"This latest stab at rational politics is as doomed as their
re-negotiation ploy - nobody will buy it. Nationalists
certainly won't go for what effectively amounts to a Stormont
County Council," he said.

ADAMS RETURNS TO CAMPAIGN

Meanwhile, Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams MP returns to the
campaign tomorrow with an extensive canvass in his West
Belfast constituency following the death of his father earlier
in the week.

In a statement, he said that 'a vote for Sinn Fein is
the best guarantee that there will be no renegotiation of the
Agreement and that a strong and decisive Sinn Fein vote is a
strong and decisive vote against the DUP and the
rejectionists'.

Mr Adams said:

"The Sinn Fein peace strategy, and the endorsement of this by
the electorate in growing numbers, has transformed our
society. The DUP and rejectionists know this. That is why they
have made Sinn Fein a central plank of their campaign.

"The strength of Sinn Fein's electoral support has made that
difference. It delivers. For decades others failed to deliver
change. They engaged in endless talks about talks. In our
Local Councils, before Sinn Fein arrived, others accepted
inequality, discrimination and second class citizenship, Sinn
Fein Councillors did not. They confronted the bigots. They
delivered change right across the six counties.

"A vote for Sinn Fein is the best guarantee that there will be
no renegotiation of the Good Friday Agreement. A strong and
decisive vote for Sinn Fein is a strong and decisive vote
against the DUP.

"In this election we are asking people to endorse our work and
to vote and transfer to Sinn Fein to maximise nationalist
representation in the Assembly and the Executive and to return
a Sinn Fein First or Deputy First Minister."