But at the launch of the party's campaign for the Assembly elections, leaders said they were still adamant that there was a unionist majority No vote against the agreement.

Robinson: "The DUP will always work constructively..."

Deputy leader Peter Robinson said that while the DUP would always work "constructively, peacefully, constitutionally and democratically," within the Assembly, "we will not use our votes to provide a consensus for unreconstructed terrorists to be placed in government nor will we endorse the release of prisoners prior to the dismantling of paramilitary war machines and the surrender of illegal weaponry."

Party leader Rev Ian Paisley made it clear that the DUP would be holding Prime Minister Tony Blair to pledges he gave unionists before the Stormont agreement was signed.

"We will not be entering the assembly to save the Union, we will be entering the assembly to nail Tony Blair's hide to the fence. He has made promises he is going to do things which are not in the agreement and we are going to hold him to those," he said.

"Our amendments will be worded exactly as his written pledge. We will test him and see how far he is going to keep the pledge he made in desperation when he flew into Ulster."

Wrecking the Assembly?

Answering the charge that the DUP would wreck the assembly, Mr Robinson said:

Deputy leader Peter Robinson

"If holding this position is determined to be wrecking the Assembly, and bringing down the agreement, then we would be in interesting company, for these are the promises that David Trimble made to the electorate during the referendum - and they are the promises Tony Blair sought to have the people of Northern Ireland believe he was making."

Mr Paisley predicted that support in Northern Ireland for the fight against the agreement would swell in numbers to more than 300,000.

He said: "I'm looking forward to this battle, one of the best battles we've ever had, one of the most interesting elections we have ever had, where the people of Northern Ireland will have a real say."

No compromise on the Union

Mr Paisley defended the rights of unionists and those who voted against the Stormont Agreement, saying:

"There cannot be any compromise whatsoever on the Union. We have in this act the destruction of the 1920 Act and we have in this act the destruction of the Act of Union, we have in this act the release on to the streets all the worst gunmen and the worst killers in history and then you say to me I should be happy about it.