McAleese rejects ‘erosion of loyalist link’

PRESIDENT Mary McAleese has refuted suggestions her contacts with loyalist paramilitaries could turn sour.

The development of contacts with the UDA by President McAleese and her husband, Martin McAleese, are mooted as an important confidence-building exercise for the loyalist community.

But the UDA ceasefire is viewed with scepticism by the authorities and security forces in Northern Ireland as loyalists continue to be involved in punishment beatings and criminal activities.

Yet speaking on an RTÉ documentary on her term in office last night, the President said personal embarrassment would be the least of her worries, if the UDA ceasefire broke down.

“I am prepared to take the risk to make sure that day of embarrassment never happens.

“If that day of embarrassment so-called happens, it means that somebody has been hurt, somebody has been injured, somebody can’t sleep in their bed at night because they are worried sick about being murdered or killed, or their children being attacked on the street,” she said.

The groundwork for the President’s meeting with loyalist paramilitary representatives and a subsequent meeting by the Ulster Political Research Group was reportedly laid by Dr Martin McAleese.

The efforts made to ensure Drumcree and the subsequent marching season last year passed quietly, needed to be fully acknowledged Dr McAleese said in From the Ardoyne to the Áras: Inside the McAleese Presidency.

“I think that those efforts haven’t been fully acknowledged and I know the effort put into them,” he said.

The President also spoke of her healthy working relationship with Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and her satisfaction with her tenure in Áras an Uachtaráin.

“I love the buzz of the job. I love the fact it’s a very busy and diverse job,” she said.