Paul Murphy

Northern Ireland secretary Paul Murphy began chairing the review of the Good Friday agreement at Stormont on Monday.

However the four main Ulster parties differ about the form the review should take.

Sinn Fein and the SDLP have called for a short assessment, while Ulster Unionists have insisted that the problem of paramilitary violence should be dealt with primarily, as a cause of the suspension of the Stormont assembly 14 months ago.

Democratic Unionists have called for a wholesale review of the 1998 agreement, pledging to hold a reception for victims' families and members of the loyal order to keep them up to date with progress.

"I think one of the major failings of the Ulster Unionists - people didn't understand what was happening," said DUP deputy leader Peter Robinson.

"Perhaps if they had understood it, they would have liked it all the less.

"If they had understood it at an earlier stage, they might have been able to retrieve some of the error that the Ulster Unionist Party had built into its proposals."

Devolution restoration

Last week, the British and Irish governments heard proposals from the main players on how devolution should be restored to Ulster.

The DUP under Ian Paisley called for a "key vote" system, under which powers would be devolved to the assembly and not individual ministers, with decisions passed by a vote of 50 per cent of both unionist and nationalist members or 70 per cent of those present.

However, the suggestions have been rejected, with Sinn Fein branding them a return to majority rule and the SDLP arguing that such a move would signal a return to the 1982 assembly, which did not work.

The Ulster Unionist Party also voiced its concerns.

"I don't think those who voted for the DUP voted for that," said leader David Trimble.