Second Ulster Unionist met UDA

The UDA ceasefire has been declared over

A second Ulster Unionist has revealed he held talks with the leaders of the loyalist paramilitary Ulster Defence Association.

North Belfast assembly member Fred Cobain has told the BBC that he met UDA members during the summer about a number of issues including arms decommissioning.

Mr Cobain made this public following the disclosure that Ulster Unionist South Antrim MP David Burnside had also had private talks with the leadership of the UDA.

The revelation about talks between Ulster Unionists and the UDA come at a delicate time in the political process and when security fears are heightened.

Political crisis

The Ulster Unionists are preparing to collapse Northern Ireland's powersharing arrangement because they have said they will no longer sit in the executive with Sinn Fein while the IRA refuses to decommission it arms.

Fred Cobain has told the BBC he met with the UDA

None of the paramilitary organisations have started to disarm.

And last week the government said it no longer recognised the ceasefire of the UDA because of police evidence it had been involved in recent pipe bomb and gun attacks and street violence in north Belfast.

Media speculation about the talks has prompted Ulster Unionist Party chairman James Cooper to issue a statement.

Mr Cooper said his party was not prepared to comment on the speculation and would not advise anyone connected to the party to do so.

He added that his party would "always act responsibly and in the best interests of the community".

Mr Cooper also said elected representatives in the course of their work were likely to be involved in discreet discussions concerning many sensitive issues.

In all such cases, he said, it was "highly irresponsible to betray confidentiality or engage in a breach of faith".

"It is essential that if such discussions are to have any credibility or success, details of them remain confidential," he added.

David Burnside: "I am doing my best to stop the violence"

Meanwhile, Mr Burnside defended his decision to meet the UDA.

Mr Burnside said the meeting took place at the end of the summer following a period of violence in his constituency and that he had felt it his duty to try to stop loyalist paramilitary violence.

"Since I was elected as a Member of Parliament, I have had two murders within my constituency, petrol bombs and pipe bombs," he told BBC Radio Ulster.

"I have had a major amount of intimidation within my constituency emanating from so-called loyalist organisations.

"I'm more than prepared to go and see those loyalist organisations and say that does not do anything to the loyalist cause. I believe that's my job and my responsibility."

Mr Burnside said he was asked by community groups to meet the UDA leadership to explain his reading of the current political situation.

Ulster Unionist leader David Trimble has refused to say whether or not he was aware of the contacts with the UDA before they happened.