HE'S the man they said would never compromise. Not that long ago, he wielded a plastic red, white and blue hammer, pledging to smash Sinn Fein. Republicans were outraged but his supporters rejoiced as the Rev Ian Paisley inhabited traditional territory.

But now aged 80, when they all thought him too old and stubborn to shift, the DUP leader is moving onto new ground. If Martin McGuinness "takes heart" from Paisley's recent pronouncements on forming a power-sharing government with Sinn Fein, some veteran DUP members are dismayed.

He's still held in deep affection in party ranks but, for the first time, some elements are publicly questioning Paisley's decisions. While there's no possibility of a leadership challenge or a split, personal and political divisions are emerging as the DUP grapples with the St Andrew's Agreement.

It's always been more like a family than a political party. The establishment's hostility to the DUP bonded its leading figures together.

They weren't just colleagues, they were friends.

The rivalry, back-stabbing, and manoeuvring, so common in other parties, was absent. 'No Surrender' was a slogan which cemented unity. Negotiating a deal is a trickier business.

"We're in turmoil over St Andrew's, " says a source who last week was one of 12 Assembly members to sign a statement interpreted by some as challenging Paisley.

The signatories are known as the '12 apostles'.

"There's deep concern at the speed and direction in which things are moving. It's not that we don't trust the Doc . . . we do . . . but we don't trust those around him. He's being encouraged down the St Andrew's path by Ian jnr who wants to be security minister in any new Executive.

"The DUP policy unit is dominated by ex-Ulster Unionists who have far too much influence. They're a law unto themselves. They write new policy without any regard for existing policy."

However, a pro-leadership DUP figure says: "Ian Paisley is his own man. He's in nobody's pocket. Nobody tells him what to do or takes him places he doesn't want to go." Other sources claim criticism of Ian jnr is motivated by "jealousy".

Officially, St Andrew's is a work in progress for the party with many issues unresolved. Those in the DUP fully or broadly supporting the document include MPs Jeffrey Donaldson, Peter and Iris Robinson, Sammy Wilson and the Paisleys.

Those who oppose it outright, or are sceptical, include MPs Nigel Dodds, Gregory Campbell, David Simpson and the Rev Willie McCrea, and Jim Allister MEP.

Asked why he thought Paisley was on the more moderate wing, an anti-Agreement source says: "He's in the final years of his political career. He sees himself as Northern Ireland's Nelson Mandela . . .leading his country to a lasting settlement."

According to the governments' timeframe, after Sinn Fein holds a special ardfheis to change policy to support the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI), Assembly elections will be held on 8 March and a power-sharing executive formed on 26 March.

DUP hardliners want their leadership to reject this timeframe.

"Sinn Fein is foot-dragging on an ardfheis. The earliest it will hold one will be January, and a clear endorsement of the PSNI isn't guaranteed. We could get a motion so heavily qualified it's meaningless, " says one of the 'apostles'.

"But even with an unambiguous statement, it's deeds not words that count. Sinn Fein signed up to the Mitchell principles of non-violence, and the IRA went on to murder 20 people.

"We should tell the governments to stuff their deadline. The ball's in Sinn Fein's court. Let them hold their ardfheis and then we'll test their sincerity by seeing what happens on the ground.

If that test period takes years, so be it. David Trimble kept meeting government deadlines. The IRA made all sorts of promises to Trimble and never kept one of them. We can't end up looking as foolish as he did."

The hardliners are also concerned that the St Andrew's Agreement contains no exclusion mechanism which, in the event of IRA activity would bar Sinn Fein from government but allow the Executive to continue. They are also demanding the Army Council disband and the IRA hand over its criminal assets.

The DUP leadership says these matters are part of ongoing negotiations. Its critics claim they've been swept under the carpet.

"When you raise them at meetings you feel like a maiden aunt at a wedding . . . ignored, " says one Assembly member.

However, a St Andrew's supporter says: "The situation may be far from perfect but we must use our heads. If unionists walk away from negotiations now, we will cop the blame and the [British] government will impose their Plan B . . .

joint authority with Dublin.

"Of course, people have concerns about St Andrew's, and it's hard for those whose family were murdered by the IRA to contemplate government with Sinn Fein.

"But, ideologically, the DUP has achieved a lot. We've secured decommissioning and brought the IRA to accept partition and Northern Ireland's position within the UK. They're also on the brink of supporting the police.

"The IRA have fallen way short of the objectives they set out to achieve in 1969. We must hold our nerve and not let them off the hook."

Warnings about joint sovereignty if St Andrew's is rejected have been relayed to the DUP by Michael McDowell. The hardliners dismiss this as scare-mongering: "We were told we had to accept the Belfast Agreement because the alternative would be worse. It was all nonsense. We didn't capitulate then and we shouldn't now."

Another argument put forward by St Andrew's supporters is that the British government's reorganisation of local government in the North . . . seven new super-councils will replace the existing 26 district councils . . . can be revised if the Assembly is reconvened.

"If this doesn't happen, Sinn Fein will run west of the Bann . . . Conor Murphy will effectively be president of Armagh. The Sinn Fein councils will tie up with councils across the border to create various cross-border bodies. That would be disastrous for unionists."

But the greatest conflict in the DUP concerns the party's internal procedures. St Andrew's opponents allege a lack of democracy.

An anti-deal source says South Antrim MP, the Rev Willie McCrea, only found out accidentally that an important meeting between the DUP and the British government was taking place: "A Northern Ireland Office official rang Willie about something and during the conversation said he was surprised Willie wasn't in London at the meeting.

"Willie said, 'What meeting?' He felt a fool.

He rang Nigel Dodds [North Belfast MP] who also didn't know about it and neither did Maurice Morrow [party chairman].

"There had been a two-hour meeting of the 19 senior party officers the previous day, but nobody had bothered to inform them about London. They didn't want anyone not keen on St Andrew's there.

They wanted the 'awkward squad' kept in the dark."

The greatest divisions emerged on 24 November when Paisley had to signal in Stormont that he would be prepared to accept the nomination for First Minister in March if progress is as planned.

One of 'the apostles' said: "There was a DUP officer team meeting that morning. Paisley was reluctant to divulge the statement he was about to read to the Assembly on his position regarding nomination.

"Eventually, his statement was read out but people weren't allowed to physically see the text. This was themost important DUP statement in 30 years.

It should have been photocopied and openly handed around.

"Gregory [Campell], Nigel [Dodds] and Maurice [Morrow] were very angry. They walked out at one point. They felt they were being treated like schoolboys."

The situation deteriorated further later that day when some Assembly members thought there wasn't enough clarity that Paisley hadn't signed up to nomination next March. So 12 of the party's 32 Assembly members released a press statement stressing that the DUP hadn't agreed to anything.

Tensions were high, with Fermanagh Assembly member Arlene Foster trying in vain to act as peacemaker between the two sides.

Theleadership was infuriated by the 12 apostles' statement.

A DUP leadership source declined to comment on the details of these incidents but would only say: "This is all baseless rumour and gossip."

One of the 'apostles' said the antiSt Andrew's feeling couldn't be ignored: "Of our 32 Assembly members, 13 are against St Andrew's, 11 are pro-deal and eight are in an inbetween position. Four of our nine Westminster MPs have serious doubts, as does our MEP.

"There won't be a leadership challenge and nobody will leave the party. But, with such opposition, we can influence the leader and ensure we get back on the right track.

"Many of the supporters who stood by us for 30 years, when it wasn't popular or acceptable to be DUP, are confused and disorientated about what's happening now. These people are more important than the 'garden centre Prod' voters . . . the former Ulster Unionist supporters who might have switched to us but whose loyalty can't be relied on."

The DUP is used to combating its opponents, but the internal battle over the party's future is proving a far more uncomfortable conflict.