The party is thought likely to call for a halt to prisoner releases and the urgent decommissioning of IRA weapons during the conference in Omagh - scene of the bombing outrage in the summer which claimed 29 lives.

DUP members are reportedly unhappy about various aspects of the peace process in Northern Ireland.

"The message has to be got across that the unionist people have had enough," said party spokesman StClair McAlister.

"They have come to the end of their tether despite what Tony Blair might perform in Dublin."

The Press Association reports that disgruntled former members of Mr Trimble's Ulster Unionist Party are being welcomed to the conference in a direct snub to the UUP.

Delegates at the conference are also expected to express support for the continuing Drumcree Orange protest and call for the scrapping of the Parades Commission.

DUP background facts