First Minister to visit city for Hillsborough address

But rivals in the Foyle Ulster Unionist Association said the DUP was being "unreasonable and nave" to expect the UUP to accept a deal that was "clearly based on side deals."

The DUP leader will host a conference on the agreement in the Waterside on Monday (March 1), in order to address the concerns of members of the local unionist family over matters arising from the prospect of the devolution of policing and justice powers to Belfast.

A spokesman for the DUP said local community representatives, the Loyal Orders and band representatives are invited to attend the meeting which will address any questions over policing and justice and, importantly for the Protestant community in Londonderry, the issue of parades.

The spokesman explained: "We have organised this meeting to fully explain the Hillsborough Agreement. As a party we see this as a very important meeting.

"The First Minister and the party have undertaken to meet with local grass roots representatives throughout the country and we see it as very important to bring this to Londonderry,

"It is very much a welcome chance for people to ask any questions they have on the agreement and as well as the First Minister we are hoping to have the Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment (DETINI) Arlene Foster along on the evening," he added.

"Hopefully, it will add to what has already been agreed at Hillsborough and it will be an opportunity to set the record straight. Let's be clear there has been a lot of innuendo, half-truths and lies about what was agreed. This meeting will allow people to set the record straight."

The spokesman blamed political rivals on the unionist side as well as the SDLP for attempting to sow dissension over the Hillsborough accord.

"A lot of this is the result of misinformation being peddled by the TUV, the UUP and the SDLP, who have distorted, very much, what has been agreed."

Deputy Chairman of the UUP and Chairman of the Foyle Unionist Association Terry Wright told the Sentinel his party would continue to consider its response to the Hillsborough Agreement.

"The Agreement is short on detail and in places is merely aspirational. Policing and Justice is far from settled.

"It would also seem clear that there have been side-deals. Sudden announcements on financial support for the promotion of the Irish language are hardly a coincidence.

"Recent statements by Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness on parades appear to suggest that the outcome of the considerations of the Committee to consider the issue is a foregone conclusion to which, presumably, the DUP has agreed.

"The criticism which the DUP is levelling at the UUP for failing to buy into the compromises it has reached is unreasonable and nave.

The process which produced the Hillsboro Agreement was anything but inclusive.

"The only element which the DUP seems to wish to share is the responsibility for getting it wrong if and when the agreement collapses, as it may do if the DUP attempts to renege on the concessions it has made, in its weakness, to Sinn Fin.

"The DUP displayed its weakness further by missing an opportunity to table education at Hillsboro and by excluding the UUP which could have done so. In failing to address education, such an obvious casualty of a dysfunctional Executive, the DUP in its haste and anxiety to agree a deal has disadvantaged hundreds of parents and children.

"This is what happens when your sole concern is your own retention of power. In considering its own response the UUP has therefore not just its own agenda to consider but must also give thought to repairing the damage which the DUP has caused."