DAVID ERVINE, the leader of the Progressive Unionist party (PUP), the political wing of the UVF, has warned there could be a violent loyalist reaction if the British and Irish governments pursue a policy of cross-border co-operation without a local assembly in place.

“It would be my dream that there won’t be violence, but the reality is that when you make a people voiceless there will be a reaction and a response. We have seen it so many times in the past,” said Ervine.

Stating that he believed the IRA’s war was over, he urged unionist politicians to share power with Sinn Fein to avoid a political vacuum.

The comments are likely to cause further problems for the Ulster Unionist party (UUP). Earlier this year, Ervine and the PUP were co-opted into the party’s assembly team. The move prompted protests from leading figures, including Lady Sylvia Hermon, the UUP’s only MP, who believed the link was a hostage to fortune. One councillor resigned over the issue.

In April the Independent Monitoring Commission (IMC) found that the UVF was still “active, violent and ruthless”. It said it continued to recruit and train new members and had refused to decommission its weapons.

Ervine stressed yesterday that he was working to avoid violence. He said that if devolution was not restored “my big fear is that unionism will find itself with no voice, upset, angry and corralled”. He said the onus was on the Democratic Unionist party to reach a power-sharing deal with Sinn Fein to avoid this happening.

Ervine argued that loyalists and many unionists had agreed to the cross-border dimension of the Good Friday agreement only because the cross-border elements favoured by nationalists were under the control of an assembly.

“Without the assembly the deal is off as far as my community is involved, it is absolutely gone,” Ervine said.

Under the current arrangements, there are six defined areas of cross-border co- operation. These have been placed in “maintenance mode” while negotiations for the return of the assembly continue. Nationalists, however, have demanded that they be expanded and Peter Hain, the Northern Ireland secretary, has said that cross-border functions will be enhanced under a “plan B” prepared by the Irish and British governments.

If a power-sharing executive cannot be formed by November 24, the assembly will be closed and plan B will be implemented. Last week, the two governments talked of Irish government involvement in the allocation of housing and joint trade missions.

Last week it emerged that the Irish government was building a £6m (€8.9m) mansion to house civil servants working in Belfast.

Ervine urged unionist politicians to do all they could to avoid the fall of the assembly in order that the situation be stabilised.

He warned unionists that if they did not do a deal now, the political vacuum could last a long time because next year the British government “could be involved in two wars” and “Bertie Ahern would be focusing on the Irish election”.

As he spoke, all the main parties were privately predicting that the November 24 deadline would not be met. Over the next couple of weeks, redundancy notices will be sent to staff employed with the allowances received by assembly members.

Parties were warned by the Northern Ireland Office last week to “get their affairs in order” because these allowances will be “terminated” on November 25 unless an executive is formed.

Times Recommends

• No apology for Germany’s own Nazi victims
• Intricate web of fear and hope tying down deal
• Victims remembered a year after Mumbai attacks